Square-Enix X'Mas Collections
by Epic Networks
Summary: Your favorite Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts characters spend Christmas together in the most wackiest ways in a bundle of three classic Christmas episodes.
1. Prologus

**Disclaimer: All the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series belong to Square-Enix****_._**

* * *

**Square-Enix X'Mas Collections**

* * *

Montblanc was sitting by the crisping fireplace inside a warm cottage in the middle of a snowy storm. His hands were warmed, holding on to his cup of cocoa with Crystal-shaped marshmallows. A large worn out book was on his tiny lap.

He raised his head up, then, broke the fourth wall.

_Hmm… Oh, hello readers! Glad you could make it. _(Looks out the window) _It's really coming down out there huh? (_breaks fourth wall again_) Well… nothing beats a relaxing Christmas eve like sipping on a cup of cocoa, sitting by the fireplace inside your warm home in the middle of a snowstorm with a Christmas story to share, Kupo._

_Teehee. See what I did there?_

_Well, actually, I'd like to share three Christmas stories with you. I gotta warn ya, they are long. But they're not boring but very interesting as they are full of comedy, mysteries, adventure and let's not forget some Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts magic._

_So… are you comfortable, Kupo?_

_…_

_Good. Then let's get started._


	2. SquareEnix Christmas Party

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
CHRISTMAS PARTY**

* * *

Cloud Strife sat on top of the highest roof of a majestic castle as he watched the snow falling on his head.

"What are you doing, Cloud?" The voice of Zidane called from behind the former SOLDIER member. Cloud turned to face him, "I'm enjoying the snow. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Being lonely on Christmas Day;" he said, "now come on, we gotta go greet our guests and start the party."

Cloud and Zidane entered the castle and went toward its gardens. Surrounded in flowering edges and a fountain at the center all covered in snow and ice, the garden was large and beautiful; and there was a buffet full of assorted Christmas foods and drinks, including the popular fruit Elixir and eggnog.

Most of the Square-Enix characters were there besides Zidane and Cloud. There was some people from Dissidia Final Fantasy (it was Squall Leonhart, Tidus, and Terra Branford), Kingdom Hearts (Sora, Kairi, Naminé, Roxas, Terra, Ven, and Aqua), and Final Fantasy Fabula Nova Crystallis (Lightning, Snow Villiers, Oerba Dia Vanille, Noctis, and Stella). The characters were all cozy in their ivory and snow white Christmas coats, pants, and scarves.

*Because they are two Terras, the Terra from Final Fantasy VI will be called by her Japanese name "Tina" to avoid confusion.*

"I hate white. Black defines me." Noctis complained. Tina pointed at Noctis's clothes and they turned black and dark blue. He smiled.

"There. All set." Tina smiled back.

"How do you do that anyway?" Noctis asked.

"It comes to me naturally." Tina said quietly.

"Hot chocolate anyone?" Stella served on thin glasses, delicious frothing cocoa.

Everyone gathered to get some chocolate.

"Don't mind if I do." Sora summoned his Keyblade and pointed at a glass of hot chocolate. The chocolate levitated from the table and reached the Keyblade teen.

"You are such a show off, you know that?" Terra told Sora.

"Yep." Sora drank proudly the chocolate.

"He has always been a show-off." Kairi giggled.

Snow rubbed her belly in heart content after sipping a taste of his hot chocolate, "Mm. Stella, you made this?"

"Yep." Stella smiled, "It's a family recipe. Hot chocolate with a hint of cinnamon."

"Yummilicious!" Snow said.

"This is delicious Stella, thank you." Lightning said.

Meanwhile Vanille watched the snow falling and breathed a sigh, "Ah, I love Christmas." She said, "I love a White Christmas. Heck, I love all type of Christmas."

"Like Black Christmas? Green Christmas? Arcane Christmas?" Cloud looked at her in confusion.

Vanille giggled, "No Cloud. Christmas is not associated with Color Magic. I meant White Christmas because it's snowing."

"Oh, that." Cloud said.

"Cloud, cheer up. It's Christmas!" Aqua said, "Why are you not happy?"

"Maybe black doesn't define his color?" Noctis said, looking down at his Advent Children outfit.

"Sure. Make fun, Noctis. If I try to be happy, Sephiroth is going to come in and crash the fun." Cloud said,

"Ahh, Sephiroth…" the cast of Dissidia quickly understood.

"He's like a virus when it comes to me celebrating Christmastime." He continued.

"Maybe you should have some hot chocolate. Here, take it to Cloud will ya?" Stella handed Squall Cloud's hot chocolate. Squall handed him over the glass, grinning. Cloud took it and stared at it uncomfortably.

Squall sighed, "For the last time Cloud, I didn't put my mouth on it."

"Good. Then I can drink it in peace." Cloud smiled in relief before taking a sip.

Nearby, Naminé was making a sketch of the snowy garden and Christmas buffet.

"Merry Christmas, Naminé." The voice of Roxas surprised her. She turned to smile at him, "Roxas. Merry Christmas to you too."

"Whatcha doing?"

"I'm drawing a sketch. What do you think?" She showed Roxas her art.

"Oh my gosh, that's beautiful Naminé." Ven remarked as he approached Naminé and Roxas, along with Terra and Aqua.

"Thank you, Ven." Naminé said, "Say, I have a question?" she faced both Roxas and Ven, "Are you guys like, twins?"

Ven and Roxas stared at each other before facing Naminé. They shook their heads, "Nope."

"Really? Because you really look alike!"

"You sure do guys." Terra pointed out.

Both Ven and Roxas shrugged at the same time, "I don't see a resemblance." They both said. Naminé, Terra and Aqua stared at each other. This was really freaky.

Terra quickly changed subjects, "Say Naminé, Who's this guy?" he pointed at a sketch of Sephiroth Naminé doodled. Naminé shrugged, "I dunno. He just came to my mind and I sketched him."

"But, he's not at the party now is he?" Aqua asked.

A light started to glow over the buffet table, catching everyone's attention.

"Oh, no. Not again." Cloud said. Just when he thought his fun was starting, something had to happen. The light transformed into Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked around, "What is this?" he sounded annoyed, "The lights? The snow? The foods? The _laughter_? Is this—?"

"Merry Christmas, Sephiroth!" Stella smiled at the dark-winged swordsman. Sephiroth frowned.

"Here! Have some hot chocolate! Just don't stab it! Teehee!" Stella giggled before pointing Sephiroth the buffet table.

He approached the buffet and picked a hot chocolate glass from the table.

"Seph! Can I call you that?" Tidus approached Sephiroth. Sephiroth eyeballed him. Tidus cleared his throat, "Okay, I'll take that as a no. Anyway, if you drink this Christmas hot cocoa, it'll get the Grinch out of you!"

"Yeah! It does! It sure does!" Snow nodded along, "It did a trick to Cloud!"

"It did to me too!" Zidane came into the conversation.

"Cloud?" Sephiroth repeated, "He's here?"

Zidane blocked his way, "Come on, at least try our chocolate."

"I'm not in the mood for Christmas." Sephiroth said, "Ever! Heck, I ain't in the mood for those mushy holiday stuffs and stuffings."

"Thank you for that, Naminé." Cloud scowled at her.

"Hey! You're the one who was all pouting about Christmas." Naminé hissed.

"People! People! Let's all settle down. The fun is just getting started. Let's not ruin it." Stella tried to calm the mood, "Now come here and get your chocolates while it's hot!"

"Is it black?" Noctis asked, "Because I love black."

"How about some blitzball huh?" Tidus pulled out his blitzball and flung it to Sephiroth. Sephiroth dodged it and the ball jumped on the table and knocked down on some hot chocolate glasses like a bowling ball, spilling to the snow.

"HEY!" Stella screamed, "WATCH IT!"

"Oh, look. Someone crashed the party and it was definitely not me." Sephiroth said.

"Look, Sephiroth. Why are you always here to cause trouble?" Sora sounded angry.

"Because trouble is my true name." Sephiroth said, "And why are you blaming me? You're supposed to be blaming this brat who pulled out his Blitz Ball at me."

"Sure. Blame the person who tried to cheer you up and putting you and Cloud's differences aside." Tidus said.

"Who said anything about putting differences aside?" Cloud replied in disagreement.

Suddenly a baby Chocobo landed on Sephiroth's head.

"Grab it!" screamed the voice of a girl. Sephiroth turned around to end up being pummeled like a punching bag by Shantotto. Trying to retain her were Vaan and Penelo but they too got into the pummeling as well.

Vaan finally managed to pull her out of Sephiroth, "OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH, SHANTOTTO!" He pulled Shantotto off Sephiroth by her ear.

"Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow. HEY!" She cried as she watched the baby Chocobo escape, "What did you do that for? Do you not know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are, little brat!" Vaan scowled, "One more move out of you and-!"

"SILENCE!" Shantotto barked at Vaan, "Treating your elders improperly is against the code of Santa Claus! Wait until he heard what you did to me and you won't be in his nice list!"

"Good, because here's a newsflash for ya, _elder_? There's no Santa Claus! He doesn't exist! He's nothing but a piece of measly figment!"

Everyone gasped in horror. Shantotto looked like she was about to cry. Hearing this was like inflicting pain on her heart.

"Vaan! How can you say that?" Penelo exclaimed.

"Well, she had to find out, someday!" Vaan replied.

"If Santa Claus doesn't exist, then what's the point of having a Christmas feast?" Shantotto barked and on cue she slammed down the buffet table with an incredible force. All the foods spilled on the floor and she went berserk.

"MY HOT CHOCOLATE!" Stella exclaimed, grabbing hold of her hot chocolates like they were her babies.

The berserk Shantotto started trashing about and everyone tried to calm her down. At that same moment Sora and Kairi saw Riku enter the garden and ran up to him.

"Am I in the wrong party?" Riku asked uncomfortably, looking at the mess.

"Unfortunately, you're in the right place." Sora said, pointing at the thrashing Shantotto.

"But don't worry." Kairi told Riku, "It's started peacefully until Vaan and Shantotto made a scene."

"I DIDN'T MAKE A SCENE!" Vaan apparently overheard Kairi, "IT'S ALL SHANTOTTO'S FAULT FOR CRASHING IN THE PARTY!"

"My fault?" Shantotto exclaimed, "If you had let me grab my baby chocobo, this wouldn't have happened! But I don't blame you for your immaturity, I blame Sephiroth!"

"Me?" Sephiroth repeated, "I was minding my own business here! Besides, it's Cloud's fault for dragging me into this Christmas bull!"

Cloud pulled out his Buster Sword and aimed menacingly at Sephiroth, "SAY CHRISTMAS IS BULL AGAIN AND I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"

Quickly, the quiet Christmas party with laughter and hot chocolate turned into a brawl over the spilled drinks.

Snow blew a whistle, quieting everyone down, "HEY Yo! Guys! What are we doing?

"We're fighting. What does it look like?" Cloud said.

"It's Christmas, for Christmas's sake!" Snow said.

"Snow's right." Squall said, "We shouldn't be fighting."

"Exactly." Snow said, "It's a time of joy, laughter, gifts, foods, games…"

"Snowball fight?" Tidus exclaimed before nailing a snowball on Snow's face with great force, knocking him down the ground. Everyone laughed uproariously like they were about to die.

Snow slowly, and in pain, stood up and turned around to see Tidus rolling on the ground laughing,

"How do you like that, Snow Face?" Tidus guffawed, "AH! Get it? _Snow _Face?"

Everyone stopped laughing to stare at Tidus. Apparently, Tidus was a complete failure at puns.

"That's not funny." Zidane shook his head.

"You shouldn't hurt people's feelings like that, Tidus. That was heartless." Tina told Tidus. Sora looked around alerted, "Heartless?"

Tina shook her head, "No. Not heartless like heartless monsters. Just heartless."

"Wait a minute." Tidus exclaimed, "You guys always laugh at my puns. This is gold! What else is funny besides that?"

A snowball nailed Tidus in the face. Tidus fell hard on his back. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Now that is funny." Snow said, posing with his fingers pointing at Tidus.

A red Tidus (red not just because he was angry but because his face was swollen by the snowball) grabbed another snowball, formed it into a perfect round shape the size of a rock, and flung it at Snow.

But Snow dodged right on time and the snowball landed on Sora's face. Sora grabbed a snowball and tried to nail Tidus with a swing of it but the snowball landed bulls-eye on Squall. Squall pointed his Gunblade at a built snowman and fired, spreading snow balls at almost the entire party, including a snowball nailing Sephiroth's face.

"My face! My beautiful handsome face!" he cried while desperately brushing the snow off his face. The snow then struck him on the stomach, knocking him out.

The snowball strike turned to a snowball fight. Everyone started flinging snowball at each other. Terra, Ven, and Aqua all tried to dodge the snowballs with their Keyblades. Sora tried to but quickly failed because he wasn't skilled enough. Soon Ven got nailed by a snowball.

Stella immediately panicked as the snowballs were flying over the buffet and her hot chocolate, "Not over my hot chocolate!" She screamed, "Not over my hot choco-!"

SMACK!

A snowball smacked Stella on the face then a large one knocked down the hot chocolate and spilled all over her. Lightning and Vanille laughed, pointing at her. Stella angrily picked up a snowball and nailed Vanille's face with it, knocking her out. Lightning saw that and threw a snowball back at Stella but she dodged and it nailed Noctis instead. Noctis threw his snowball at Squall, who then threw it at Cloud, then Zidane, then Terra, then Tina, then both Riku and Sora, and Kairi, and Naminé, and Roxas, and Ven and Aqua, and Shantotto, and Vaan, and Penelo, and back at Snow and Tidus, and the snowball fight went on, and on, and on…

* * *

_**Next Holiday Special...**_


	3. SquareEnix Adventures on Christmas Day 1

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
Adventures on Christmas Day  
**part 1 of 3

* * *

xXx

We're now at SquareCity and the Christmas season is upon us.

The SquareEnix cast of characters was finishing up decorating the halls and the many rooms of their large glass-made 14-stories high skyscraper they called home. That skyscraper was smack dab in the middle of SquareCity and was only known as Edenhall. It was the only place where these SE colorful characters could hang out, laugh, cry, and share tender moments together.

They were now at the Edenhall Main Quad, finishing up decorations with a large Christmas tree.

"Ahh... I just love the holidays..." said Serah Farron with a sigh, "Hanging out with family and friends, sharing presents and warm snacks, decorating the tree..."

"...shutting up so that people can concentrate." her sister Lightning mumbled, flipping through her military magazine.

"Lightning." Ventus, also known as Ven, sighed, "Would it kill you to be in the Christmas mood and help us out for once?"

"Yeah, girl!" Snow said with a grin, "And besides, it's your turn to put the Christmas Star on top of the tree this year." he playfully waved the Star toward Lightning. Lightning shot Snow a dark look, like a starving predator about to jump on its prey. Tidus snatched the star from Snow's hand, "HEY!"

"I don't think Light is in a good mood... or ANY kind of mood to put the Star where it belongs." Tidus remarked nervously.

Ventus noticed the flat screen HDTV displaying the building's front lobby, "Hey. Mailman's here." he said.

"I'll get it." Tidus screamed. He saw Chocobo who was sleeping peacefully on the couch and jumped onto its back, jerking it up from its sleep.

"It's Blitzball Champ Tidus, ready to tackle on Edenhall's front door with his trusty ride Chocobo on what could become the ultimate future Chocobo Racing in the world! Ondalay, Chocobo! ONDALAY!" Tidus screamed and slapped Chocobo like a horse.

"SKReEEEEWW!" Chocobo screamed and took off from the Main Quad like a mad horse with rabies. Tidus and Chocobo dashed down the stairs, crossed past a grand hall, wavered through dozens of hallways, leapt over balconies, crashed through secret passages… both Tidus and Chocobo were screaming: screams of joy and agony. Finally they reached the front lobby where the front glass double doors were. There was a mailman Moogle coming toward the doors. The receptionist saw him and just as he was about to waver to him to enter, Tidus and Chocobo shoved him out of the way and crashed through the double doors. Chocobo collapsed, exhausted and out of breath. So did Tidus…

"Kupo-po! What the pom-pom was that?" the Moogle asked.

"Just… wheeeeeze… tell us what we got…" Tidus gasped, his chest heaving up and down.

"You got packages!"

"Cool…" Tidus said with a big grin, before his eyes rolled up like slots machine and he fainted. Sazh Katzroy came into the lobby and saw Tidus and the Chocobo then saw the Moogle Mailman, "…what's the delivery, dead teenager and a Chocobo?"

"Kupo, just sign here." The Moogle handed Sazh a paper clipboard and a pen, "and here, here, there, there, initial here, initial there, print here, there, here-there, print there, sign here, and... Stamp with a Kupo!"

Sazh dropped the pen after signing the clipboard eternally to rub his fingers, "Dang, that package better be good, cuz I might lose my fingers from all that writin'!"

"Bring them in!" the Moogle shouted. A truck backed up to the front door, opened its rear doors and dumped about a hundred of wrapped gifts on Sazh, Tidus and Chocobo. Snow and Serah who were coming to the front lobby saw the infinite gifts pouring down on the characters.

"Whoa! Somebody's been good this year." Snow remarked.

"Yeah, Kupo! And it ain't you." the Moogle mailman replied, "It's some girl named…" he enunciated the name on the invoice, "Lightning Farron?"

"What?" Snow and Serah yelled.

Sazh pulled out of the gifts and screamed, "What?"

Tidus then followed, "WHAT?"

Chocobo then followed, "KWAAAT?"

"Somebody called me?" Lightning came to the scene.

"Your Santa gifts have arrived, Kupo!" The Moogle mailman replied.

"My what?"

"Have a good fete, Santa's pet! Teeheehee." the Moogle mailman took off, laughing. Lightning stared speechlessly at the gifts. Ven alongside Zack Fair came down the lobby and saw the gifts, and they too were speechless.

"Wow…" Ven's eyes sparkled.

"Look at all those gifts!" Zack laughed out loud, "Whoa man! Has somebody's been Santa Claus's favorite child or something?"

All fingers pointed at Lightning. Lightning glared at Zack like a predator ready to jump on her prey.

"Oops..."

The main receptionist sniggered behind his post. But Lightning, having good ears, heard him and pointed the finger at him, threatening, "You laugh, you die!"

The receptionist got quiet.

xXx

Kingdom Lounge, a lounge in Edenhall where all Kingdom Hearts characters hang out. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Namine, Lea and Isa were watching an HD3D movie when-

"EEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Sigh... Just when you think that you can enjoy your movie..." Riku mumbled.

Blonde girl and drama queen Stella Nox Fleuret crashed into the lounge with panic-stricken look on her face. Following her was Tifa Lockhart.

"Stella..." Tifa tried to talk to her friend, but Stella hushed her.

"This is important!" Stella said.

"This is dumb." Tifa sighed.

"You guys!" Stella yelped, completely ignoring Tifa, "My boyfriend Noctis is coming by for a visit tonight, and I've got NOTHING to wear!"

Kairi fake-gasped, "This is a fashion disaster!"

"I KNOW!" Stella yelled in response, "You gotta help me!"

"Stella, you're like the richest girl in SquareCity." Sora said, "Heck, you can even turn the local mall into your own wardrobe! You'll do fine."

"That's what I've been trying to tell her all day!" Tifa said.

"Oh really?" Stella said, "Well, since you know everything, how about we go do some holiday shopping together? Just us girls! And any girls! It's girls-only shopping spree!" Stella then faced Kairi and Namine who all shook heads and responded with different excuses. The boys just said they're not girls.

"Awright fine! It's just Tifa!"

"Do I get a say in this?"

"No. Let's go." Stella took off, dragging Tifa with her.

The KH gang returned to their movie when...

"Breaking! Breaking Exciting News!" the TV news reporter blared on the screen.

"Groans... Why showing news NOW in the middle of a good movie? That's what 10 o'clock... 4 o'clock... 6 o'clock news are for!" Riku barked.

"It's exciting news... So it shouldn't be depressing." Lea pointed out.

"Are you ready for the holiday season? Well then if you are, you better get ready for our 13th Annual Winter Fantasy Skating-Style Competition! Bring your dancing partner to the ice field for a fantastic time on ice this weekend-only starting Thursday afternoon at Mt. Crystallis just in time for Christmas!"

"Lame..." Sora mumbled.

"That sounds like fun." Kairi said, all smiles.

"OH I totally agree!" Sora quickly replied.

"We'll be giving away dozens of Christmas gifts-!"

"Did you just said gifts?" Everyone exclaimed.

"That's right! Gifts!" The announcer guy said as if in response, "Dozens of them, to our famous couple competitors, courtesy of your favorite boutiques like B&W Outfitters, Migelo's Sundries, and Aerith's Flower Shop!"

The gang felt hypnotized when they saw the gifts displayed on TV. "Whoa... Seeing these feels like Christmas Day in Heaven..." Sora mumbled.

"You can even get a lifetime supply of ASSORTED ICE CREAMS delivered to your home, fully paid for by Huey Duck's Ice Cream Shop at Disney Town!"

"ICE CREAM!" Lea and Isa gasped at the sight of the ice creams displayed on TV. The KH Gang couldn't get their eyes off the assorted ice cream also.

"Will you be getting Double Crunch On Monday?"

"Ohh..."

"Spark Lemon Tuesday?"

"OhHhH..."

"Goofy Parfait on Wednesday?"

"OHHH..."

"WHO KNOWS? Just sign up for your chance to compete! And remember, have fun and happy holidays!"

"Aw, man! THIS IS AWESOME!" Sora exclaimed, "I gotta say, I wasn't down for it, but the gifts and ice cream won me over!"

"Who eats ice cream in Winter?" a confused Isa muttered.

"We should totally compete." Kairi proposed.

Riku shook his head, "Yeah, no. Not me."

"Why not Riku?" Sora provoked, "Are you chicken?"

"Just so you know, Sora, I had my share of competition in the rink for the past two years. So that makes me more male than you are."

"No way Riku!" Kairi exclaimed, "You were in the competition too?"

"We both were." Namine protested, "But Riku was the best! He actually taught me everything about skating: techniques and tactics."

"We won the competition by landslides..." Riku explained, "Well, except the last one. That prize was totally stolen from us by the so-called Sky-Pirating Duo of Balthier and Fran. That Balthier guy is such a smug. And have you seen his partner on ice Fran?"

"Ha-Ha! Fran..." Lea laughed at the name, "What? She old?"

"No she's hot!" Riku said, "She ain't human but she like a model."

"Too bad you can't compete Riku." Sora said with a haughty grin on his face, "But don't worry! Kairi and I will totally-!"

"Say, I have an idea." Namine interrupted, "Why can't you two be the skating duo this year?" she pointed Kairi and Riku.

"Wait, whoa, what?"

"What, wait, whoa?"

Kairi tried to protest, "I don't think I-!"

"Oh come on guys! It'll be totally fun!" Namine pointed out.

"It will be totally awesome!" Lea agreed, "Riku could compete once again as a champion, and Kairi being a princess and a fast-learner, can get all the fame!"

"Hey, I'M a fast-learner!" Sora barked, trying to get attention. "And I got a Keyblade!" But the group was too busy talking to each other.

Zack suddenly crashed through the lounge, catching their attention, "Hey guys, word of advice: next time you see Lightning, compliment her shoes. And you didn't see me OR heard from me."

xXx

Lea, Isa and Zack Fair were in the kitchen. The kitchen was so large; it was like the type of kitchen you could find in restaurants.

"Guys, I am SO excited!" a cheerfully glee Lea said, "The thought of Riku and Kairi winning lifetime supplies of ice creams makes me wanna create my very own ice cream line! Heck, we could even serve our creation at the event!"

"Seriously, who eats ice cream in Winter?" Isa muttered, still confused.

"I think that's an awesome innovative idea!" Zack replied, "Let's get to it!"

xXx

Edenhall Scales XIII, the Grand Library. A magnificent library located at the mid section of Edenhall, was where Terra and Aqua were hanging out. That was before Johnny Thunder entered in.

"Whatchu readin', Terry?" Thunder said to Terra.

Terra put his book down, "It's Terra."

"Whatevs." Thunder jumped on a recliner and magically made a bag of popcorn appear to his hand.

"It's this book called 'The Grimoire" Terra explained, "I find its scripts and its lore fascinating."

"What's it about?" Aqua asked.

"I dunno."

Then Ven entered the library, alongside twins Mysidian mages Palom and Porom. "Man, you guys have no idea how excited I am about Christmas. What I'm most excited about is Santa Claus! He's coming by Christmas Eve to give us presents! You know. If we've been good."

"And I think we all know who's been NOT good." Aqua said and all eyes turned to Thunder.

Thunder shrugged, "What? I'VE been good!"

Porom shrugged, "…I dunno. I think Santa Claus is a myth."

"I agree." Palom nodded his head.

All heads turned to the twins by surprise. Ven quickly approached them, his pupils dilated, "I…I'm sorry, did you just say a myth?" his voice went low and shivering. "What do you guys mean he's a myth?"

"We mean he doesn't exist." Palom answered, "Hellooo…."

Ven shook his head, "Ohhh, no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no. You guys are kids. You suppose to believe in Santa Claus to get presents."

"Do you?" Porom asked.

"Of course I do!" Ven exclaimed, feeling offended.

"This oughta be good." Thunder made himself comfortable on his recliner chair, still eating popcorn.

"Think about it, Key boy." Porom marched toward the chalkboard and, waving her staff to it started magically drawing her logic down, "How possible is it, for an old man… so close to his time… to leave presents in every home in this world, of every lands, and of every states, and of every nations of every continents, and every single world that exists in the Final Fantasy and beyond in just one night?"

"He has Magic." Ven argued.

"But magic is limited." Palom countered.

"TIME Magic." Ven argued back.

"Too much Time Magic can disturb the rifts of time and space." Porom argued back.

"Arcane?"

"Only manipulate the negative status."

"HE'S A GOD!"

"Gods are invisible." Porom said.

"Except to the chosen ones." Palom added.

"Which explain WHY he never shows up to us, cuz we gotta believe in Santa Claus cuz we're the Chosen!" Ven screamed, "HA!" He gasped, out of breath.

Everyone in the room looked confused.

"Chosen for what?" Parom exclaimed.

"He doesn't show up to us?" Thunder gloated, "Dude! We see him all the time in these thrift malls!"

"Shut up!" Ven barked at Thunder.

"What sad moment for our dear Ven." Terra commented before heading back to his book. Ven noticed the book and quickly snatched it from Terra's hands.

"HEY!" Terra barked.

"He could be using this book! The Grimoire!" Ven exclaimed, "Ooh! He could teleport! Or use these Keyhole Portals thingy!"

The twins simply shook their heads.

Ven angrily slammed the book on the ground and approached the kids, "AUGH! YOU KNOW WHAT, KIDS! YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS OR ELSE—!"

"He's watching you." Porom added.

"You don't wanna be on his naughty list so close to Christmas, right?" Palom taunted.

Ven stopped. He giggled mirthlessly. "Okay. Ohh…kay."

Aqua whispered to Terra, "And I thought you were the one with the Darkness within."

"I know. How embarrassing."

"YOU KNOW WHAT?" Ven barked again, before he quickly restrained himself and cleared his throat. He pulled out a big fake grin, "You know what, kids. How about we do this. We'll fix ourselves some fresh milk and warm cookies. Chocolate chip. We'll leave them at the table…" he then looked at everyone in the room, "Nobody touches them." He then faced Thunder, "And I do mean… nobody."

Thunder frowned.

Ven faced the twins again, "…and we'll wait."

The twins looked at each other then back at Ven, "Wait for what?"

"For Santa Claus of course." Ven responded, "According to myths— REAL life stories— kids always leave a little treat for Santa before his usual visits. His favorite: milk and cookies. We'll wait around midnight until he shows up to eat the snacks, and then we'll see who's wrong about Santa. Deal?"

"Uhh… Ven." Aqua said, "You didn't make the bet."

"Allright fine." Ven sighed, "I'll bet…" Ven looked around his pockets and pulled out something valuable, "…my Wayfarer's Charm…"

Terra and Aqua looked up, eyes widen.

"…that Santa Claus exists. Deal?"

"All right." The twins responded

"And we'll bet…" Porom said.

"…Our Little Black Magic." Palom responded.

"…a little?" Porom frowned at her brother. Palom sighed, "…fine. I'll give up all my black magic."

"Deal!" Ven and the twins shook hands, and the twins left the library.

Terra and Aqua quickly approached Ven, still bug-eyed, "What madness did you do? I gave you that Charm!" Aqua angrily said to Ven.

"You're not ACTUALLY gonna go for that bet, right?" Terra asked, panicky.

"Oh, trust me guys. I will. Now to cook us some milk and cookies."

ZiNg!

Ven, Terra and Aqua turned around and saw a plateful of fresh batches of cookies and a vase of milk sitting at a table right next to Thunder.

"Y'know." Thunder spoke, now chopping on a cookie from the batch he just conjured up, "You guys should REALLY learn to do things the easy way instead of the old boring mortal way. It's so much fun."

Aqua gently took the half-bitten cookie from Thunder's hand and put it back on the plate. "Unh-Unh! No cookies for you pal." she said.

_And so here's what we've learned on this season of hope:_

_Lightning apparently has received surprise gifts from above… an infinite supply it seems._

_Riku and Kairi are entering the Winter Fantasy of Mt. Crystallis, unaware of their jealous friend indeed._

_And Ventus apparently wants the little Mysidian wizards to at least believe!_

_Ah yes… this Christmas season was just getting started._

**xXx**

Back at the Main Quad, Lightning's gifts were just too much that they took over most of the quad. Snow and Serah walked through the gifts, while avoiding destroying them. I mean, who knows what valuable things could be hiding under these gift-wrapped boxes?

"Lightning?" Serah called out to her sister, unable to locate her through this flood of boxes, "Are you in there?"

"Yoo-hoo, Lightning?" Snow teasingly called out, "This isn't the time to be playing hide-and-seek!"

Suddenly Lightning emerged out from the sea of gifts and grabbed Snow from behind in a chokehold. Serah gasped, "Lightning!"

"You laugh, you die." Lightning threatened Snow, choking him.

"Gassp… gasp…"

"Lightning! Stop! You're hurting him!" Serah pulled Lightning away from her boyfriend. Snow gasped from breath.

"This is the Christmas season, not the hunting season!" Serah exclaimed, "We should be happy. _You _should be happy. Look at all the gifts you have!"

"_I _should be happy?" Lightning snapped, "Do I LOOK happy to you?" Lightning pointed her serious bitter face to Serah to make a point.

"Apparently not."

"Face it, Serah…" Snow said, clearing his voice from the choking, "…your sister's been so used to being naughty all her life, that she ain't happy to switch side for once…"

Lightning jumped on Snow again who was laughing but Serah quickly stopped her sister, "Whoa hey!" She screamed, barring Lightning and Snow's paths, "BACK OFF, Lightning!" she then faced Snow too, "And you too Snow! This ain't funny!"

"Aw come on! No sense of humor?" Snow exclaimed, "You know, I bet that this whole gift delivery thing might be a prank. I mean, who on their right mind would wanna spent millions of Gil on gifts to give to a bitter woman like Lightning?"

"Snow boy got a point." Spoke the voice of Terra as he joined in the conversation, "The only person who could pull off such thing _wouldn't_ be sane… whether it's a prank or not."

All heads turned to face Snow, whose eyes narrowed, "Terra…" he said his name in vain, "Got someplace to go play in the darkness, dark boy?"

All heads turned to Terra. "I don't know." Terra responded, "Is your light a little too bright to face a little dark room in a pantry for a change? And by bright, I mean chicken."

All heads turned back to Snow. Snow cracked his neck, and then cracked his knuckles before pounding his fists together. Terra rotated his shoulders and stretched a little bit.

"Uh-oh. Looks like we're gonna have a prank war." Sazh announced.

"Well, not on my gifts they ain't!" Lightning yelled, "Cuz if I hear a single crack of broken box, I'll go Odin on all of you!"

Snow and Terra looked at Lightning, then back at each other, "Good point." Terra said. "Let's move this event down Edenhall Coliseum."

"Here's an idea." Snow added, "How about we do this all across SquareCity?"

"Oh it's on." Terra grinned, "You and me, SquareCity, for an all-out prank war. Oh. And bring your posse with you. Unless you're too… bright."

"Grr…"

"Oh! Here's an idea!" Serah quickly jumped of joy, "How about prank winner takes all of Lightning's gifts?"

Lightning glared back at Serah. Serah got reluctant all the sudden, "Or… maybe 30% of her gifts…?"

Lightning rolled her eyes, "Fine, whatever. Just make sure you don't break them." She turned to leave the room, but then stopped. She glanced at a small silver-wrapped box two feet from her and drooled a bit. She quickly grabbed it, glared back at everyone who was staring, and left without another word.

**xXx**

Mt. Crystallis. A massive dormant volcano right behind SquareCity, which always looked beautiful when covered in snow during the wintertime. It was there that stood a fancy sky resort at the very top which looked just as luminous and populated as Nautilus the City of Dreams.

The resort was filled with an overwhelming crowd, all bundled up in coats and gloves in the chilly afternoon. Everything, decorations, competitors, even news crew were set for the Winter Fantasy Competition.

"Welcome to our 13th Annual Winter Fantasy Skating-Style Competition!" _Golden Sun Dark Dawn _guest stars, Matthew and Tyrell hosted, "I'm Tyrell! And this is my best bud Matthew!"

"Hey." Matthew bashfully waved to the camera, before turning to his friend Tyrell, "…um, are we supposed to talk to that thing pointing at us?" he pointed at the camera, "It looks like it's about to shoot some weird blast on us or something."

"Yeah, I know… freaky right?" Tyrell said, "But people in this place call this thing a camry or something…"

"It's called a camera, Kupo!" the cameraman, an annoyed yet lazy-looking Moogle with tired eyes, corrected them, "And yes it shooting at you. Only a pictured reflection of yourselves to thousand of TVs."

Matthew and Tyrell turned back at the cameraman, panic look on their faces.

"It's shooting at us?" Tyrell yelped.

"Yeah, but…" the cameraman's eyes suddenly went wide all of the sudden, then his voice raised to almost a high pitch sound, "No, don't… DON'T DESTROY IT WITH YOUR—!"

Tyrell shot a blast of fireball through the camera, exploding it from the Moogle's hands. Debris fell on the ground. Silence fell across the skating rink as all eyes stared at Matthew and Tyrell and what Tyrell just did.

"Oops…" Tyrell grinned.

Matthew quickly resumed hosting to the readers, "Uhh… I hope y'all excited about this year's Winter Fantasy! Cuz it's gonna be a blast!" he quickly whispered to Tyrell, "…just play along."

"Oh, um…" Tyrell nervously face the readers, "yeah! A real blast!"

"Oh! And make sure you look out for Terra and Snow of the Christmas Prank War special during the competition! You don't wanna get prank no?"

"I sure don't! Let the competition begin!"

The competition went underway: some couples performed the tango; others flipped each other up in the air like acrobats, and other did European dances, hip-hop, meringue, jazz, even some combo and creative freestyles. The crowd was amazed by some of the dances, but for some competitors it felt amateurish. One such competitive duo are Balthier and Fran.

"Would you look at this, Fran?" Balthier said to his partner, "It's as if they are practicing for 'Dancing with the Stars'. No talents like those as-if celebrities, wouldn't you agree?"

"Hmph. Like I care." Fran dismissively said, "We'll sweep this one again anyway like a scoop full of Gil."

Not far from Balthier and Fran, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Namine were watching and saw the sky pirates also.

"That's them. Balthier and Fran." Riku said, "Didn't I mention that Fran girl was quite hot?"

"You might have... 30 times." Sora mumbled, "And yes, I've been counting."

The latest couple just finished their routines and the crowd cheered for them.

"And that was Trisha and Roy, the Gleeful Twoful! Give em a big round of applause! What fabulous performance!" Matthew said.

The duo left the rink.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, welcome next to the stage, newcomers Kairi and Riku, the Graceful Twos." Tyrell said and the crowd cheered out loud for them as the duo stepped onto the ice. Kairi appeared nervous.

"Break a leg Kairi!" Namine cheered.

"Break a leg?" Kairi freaked out, "Is that a death wish?"

Namine quickly shook her head and tried to explain herself. "No, no! It's…"

"Break a leg means good luck, Kairi." Riku said to her with a reassuring smile, "Just hold my hand and everything will be fine.

Kairi did so. The moment she held his hand, her fear of the ice vanished and she felt safe. Sora rolled his eyes.

The music finally played. It was 'Hikari' by Utada Hikaru. The duo moved in rhythm of the music, with some awesome style moves, like Riku carrying Kairi's stomach with only his hand and a foot over his head; as Kairi let herself go like a swan. The music was beautiful and the performance was amazing. So amazing that it was hard to describe their rhythm at each step. Even some of the crowd watchers were moved, like they were watching a forbidden love story. Namine shed a couple of tears. Sora grumbled some more.

The music ended and the crowd applauded.

"Wow! What a fabulous performance!" Matthew said.

"I know! This music almost made my cry!" Tyrell said.

"Judges! Reveal your scores!"

A Moogle, a Chocobo, and a Djinni revealed their scores "9! 9! 9!"

"Wow, that's a 27 out of 30! An A+ I must say! Congrats duets!" Tyrell said.

Kairi and Riku got off the ice to join Sora and Namine.

"Oh my gosh, y'guys! That was awesome!" Namine exclaimed.

"Yeah… awesome indeed." Sora said, trying to be happy for the duo, but he wasn't.

"You know you can do better than that when making snide remarks, kid." Spoke Balthier. The KH gang turned to face Balthier and Fran.

"I would've said that that performance was amazing, but I'd be lying." Fran said.

"Balthier and Fran." Riku said, his eyes narrowed and his head shaking, "When are you going to stop being such a bully and be friendly competitors for once?"

"Kid, it's a competition, not _American Idol._" Balthier said, scratching his nose, "I wouldn't be too close to gloating if I were you. We're taking this prize again this year."

"And you're getting nothing." Fran said, "Sorry kids." The duo passed right by the gang.

"Are they always like this?" Kairi asked.

Riku sighed. "Always."

"Now ladies and gentlemen, welcome next to the stage, returning champions, Balthier and Fran, the Skypirates of Ice!" Tyrell said and the crowd cheered out loud for them as the duo boldly stepped onto the ice. The music turned on. It was 'Trouble', by Pink.

_Trouble! Yeah, Trouble now! I'm Trouble y'All! I disturb my town, I'm trouble!_

Fran fake-slapped Balthier then Balthier jumped behind Fran and the duo moved in rhythm. They separate, still moving in rhythm. Then they joined up again and flashed their arms up in the air.

Riku, Namine, Sora and Kairi's jaws dropped at the sight of Fran and Balthier's dance. "My gosh, they got skills!" Namine gasped.

"For how long did they practice?" Sora asked.

"I dunno but I wish Namine had her paintbrush with her now and draw an Anvil above their heads." Kairi said, picturing that moment in her mind. Riku laughed and so did Namine. Sora chuckled, thinking of that moment differently, "_I wish Namine would've drawn an Anvil above your head, Riku." _He mumbled.

Fran jumped on Balthier and both turned their heads. Their expression looked quite serious. Fran did the slide and Balthier helped. The duo both turned facing each other again. Fran bended forward, Balthier leaned back, and vice-versa. They did the Cancan next and hereafter Balthier grabbed Fran's hand and the princess twirled towards him. Both duo twirled and formed a tornado. What seemed like snowflakes blew out from them, mesmerizing the audience. Finally they flashed their arms up the air again for the big finish. The performance had the crowd on their feet.

"UNBELIEVABLE! UNDESCRIBABLE! MOVING ON THIS ICE IS LIKE THE DANCE FLOOR FOR THOSE TWO!" Tyrell said.

"JUDGES! SCORES!" Matthew said.

The Moogle, Chocobo, and Djinni revealed their scores

"Triple 10!"

"WHAT?" Riku, Kairi and Namine gasped.

"Wow, that's a perfect score right there! If there was another 10! That would've been an A-plus PLUS!" Tyrell said.

"Great… now we don't have any chance." Riku sighed, defeated.

**xXx**

"Beautiful! I think we've done it!" Lea marveled at the latest Ice cream creation that he, Isa and Zack just made.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Feast your eyes on the everlasting Peppers Puffs Ice Cream! Hot and spicy on the outside! Cold and chilly on the inside! Like me!"

"Yeah..." Isa mumbled, "...cold on the inside, like your heart."

"HEY!" Lea angrily snapped, "Why do you have to be so mean to me?"

Isa shrugged, "I dunno. It's my nature I guess."

"Should we taste it first to see if it's good?" Zack asked.

"It's fine the way it looks." Lea replied, "Now let's give these babies away to our spectators... for a fee."

Lea and Isa took off with their ice cream creation. Zack decided to stay behind to clean up the kitchen when Ven came in to the kitchen along with Thunder.

"Hey Zack." Ven greeted.

"Hey what's up little buddy?" Zack greeted his friend.

"Got any more cookies? Or those ice creams you were makin'?" Thunder said with a fast alerted tone, "Gotta get more of those, man!"

Ven shook his head, "Ignore him. He just finished a whole bowlful of cookies he conjured with his Keyblade Magic and now he's all hyped up on sugar!" Ven angrily faced Thunder, "Didn't Aqua said no more cookies for you?"

"Cookies huh?" Zack said, "At least they're safe to the mouth unlike that thing Lea came up with. I'm worried."

"Yeah... we need more cookies..." Ven said to Zack, "Well, not for me and definitely NOT for this guy. It's for Santa. See, I wanna prove to those two annoying wizard kids from Mysidia that Santa Claus DOES exist."

Zack furrowed his brow, "Oooh... I dunno if you'll be able to do that, knowing that you're not going to win this bet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ven muttered.

"Oh! So you really don't know?" Zack almost sounded impressed, "All right here's the dirt! Santa Claus doesn't exist."

"There's a shock." Thunder mumbled, chewing through a peppermint cookie he had just conjured up.

Ven gnashed his teeth, "aw... YOU TOO? You pathetic."

"Yeah? Say that to the one person who once made a bet on Santa's existence: me." Zack pointed at himself, "You see, it was with my friend Pompulous Snorty. He didn't believe in Santa Claus either. So I proposed to him that we go to the North Pole together and meet him in person."

"And?"

**~Flashback…~**

"Excuse me?" said little Zack to a couple of Eskimos, talking penguins, polar bears and winter dogs in the North Pole. Little Zack and his friend Pompulous Snorty who looked like a geek were both freezing from head to toe, even though they were completely covered in high-quality winter coats.

"This is the North Pole right?" Zack said, "Can you please tell us where Santa Claus lives?"

"Santa Claus?" one Eskimo said.

"You mean that chubby guy we hear about in fairy tales?" One penguin giggled.

Suddenly the whole crew laughed out loud. "…well, good luck finding him bub!" a winter dog howled in laughter.

"We may be going extinct but we ain't goin' crazy!" a polar bear burst into tears.

Zack's heart broke at all the intense laughter. Pompulous Snorty faced him, "See? *snorts* I told you. *snorts*"

**~Flashback Ends~**

"And what's worse is that that night, Christmas Eve, I waited from midnight till it was 9 in the morning! No Santa! Just my dad carrying the gifts as if HE was Santa."

"Ouch, that must've hurt." Thunder mumbled.

"I know right?" Zack replied, "The laughter still haunts me in my dreams every Christmas Eve."

"No I'm talking about that snorting your friend made." Thunder corrected, "Yeech. Talk about nasty."

Ven shook his head, trying not to believe Zack's lies, "That's impossible. I should go to the North Pole myse—!"

Zack showed him the picture he took of the laughing Eskimo, Polar Bear, Wolf and Penguin, "Here's proof. Laughter in my face."

Ven snatched the picture at stared at it in disbelief, "Oh my gosh… it really is true."

Zack continued to clean up the kitchen when he came across something even more disturbing. "And if that's not the least of my worries, look at this!" Zack showed the duo a small bottle of red substance, but it's the picture on the bottle that was the most disturbing.

"A skull with crossbones?" Ven exclaimed, "POISON?"

"Worst. Flaming peppers." Zack said, "You're supposed to take only one drop… ONE DROP… of that thing in every dish to have a medium-hot peppery taste! Too much of it, and it's death! By peppers! And that idiot Lea took too much of it!"

"How much?"

"Like a cup! ON EVERY PEPPERS PUFF!"

"Aw, come on, how hot can it be?" Thunder giggled before he scooped up a sample of the pepper with his finger and licked it.

"NO DON'T EAT THAT!" Zack screamed, "It's like wasabi with a 6 pound combo of habanero AND ghost peppers combined!"

Thunder's face turned bright red. His cheeks puffed up and his eyes rolled up like slots machine before shooting out waterfall of tears.

"AAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!" he screamed, flames literally shooting out from his throat. He ran to the freezer and ducked his head there, trying to cool off the intense heat from his mouth, but his flaming mouth melted everything in the freezer.

"HEEEEELP! HEEELP! HEEEEEAAAAAAALLLP!"

The fire alarm suddenly went off. Zack and Ven ran around trying to find something to calm Thunder's throat. Zack grabbed a hose and Ven attached it to the water faucet. He turned on the faucet and Zack shot from the hose a stream of water into Thunder's mouth. But the flames wouldn't just go away. Thunder's body literally swelled up like a massive balloon, but his face was still red of peppery fury and his mouth were shooting more flames then ever.

"IT'S LIKE IT'S IMMUNE TO THE WATER!" Zack screamed.

Isa entered the kitchen to see the disaster happening. He quickly ran to the fire extinguisher behind a glass. He broke the glass, grabbed the extinguisher and shot it into Thunder's mouth. Thunder kept swelling up and up and up and up…

"STOP THE WATER!" Lea screamed at Zack.

"YOU STOP THE EXTINGUISHER!" Zack shouted back, "IT'S NOT HELPING!"

**xXx**

"We have got to find a way to prank this Terra guy." Snow was saying to a couple of Moogles as he was walking down the corridor, "Gosh I hate him so much right now, you don't know…"

BOOOOOOMMMM!

The entire hall just shook up violently, as if a bomb just went off. All heads turned to the source of the explosion: the kitchen!

Snow and the Moogles ran into the kitchen to find a large black burnt stain on the ground and a torn burnt shirt. Zack, Ven, and Isa remained frozen from that trauma. The fire alarm stopped ringing.

Snow noticed the skull-crossbones pepper bottle and formed a menacing grin, "Excellent."

**xXx**

_SquareCity Central Mall was packed with holiday shoppers, all rushing in and out of stores to bring cheers to all on this Christmas endeavor._

Stella and Tifa entered the food court. Tifa was carrying tons of heavy shopping bags and looked like a mess, while Stella was only holding on to one small bag.

"sigh… don't you just love Christmas? Especially with this time of year bringing joy to all shoppers with its biggest 5AM store sales yet?"

Tifa dropped the bags down, "Yeah…" she growled, "…About that, next time, why don't you just remind me that all 5AM shoppers are CRAZY LIKE MOBS!"

" 'Cuz warning you won't make the shopping fun." Stella said.

The girls spotted a couple of familiar faces at a food court table: Tidus and Terra Branford, Vaan and Penelo, Squall, and Cloud.

"Hi guys!" Stella approached the gang, who greeted back.

"Oh, you're getting your holiday shopping done?" Terra B. asked.

"You better have gotten me something!" Tidus exclaimed.

"…unless you wear a skirt, then yeah we got you something." Tifa snidely said.

"This isn't for you guys. It's for me!" Stella said cheerfully.

"Wow, how thoughtful." Vaan said, rolling his eyes. The guys chuckled.

"Hey, this is serious!" Stella said, "I got me lots of cute outfits to wear for Noctis to see me in when he comes to SquareCity to visit me for Christmas."

"Noctis huh?" Penelo said with a smile.

"Well, you better wear something fast, 'cuz he went to the restroom not long ago." Cloud revealed.

"We just picked him up from the aerodrome." Squall pointed out.

"WHAT?" Stella freaked out. At that moment, Tifa spotted Noctis not far from the crowd approaching the table. "Uh-oh. Here he comes."

"I CAN'T CHANGE FAST!" Stella freaked out, before facing Terra B. and Penelo, "Girls, do something! Teleport me to the nearest changing room!"

"I can't. I don't have my staff." Terra B. exclaimed.

"I'm all tapped out of white magic helping the poor and needy for our Christmas charity run." Penelo explained.

"I'm back." Noctis spoke, startling Stella. Stella turned to face him and grinned nervously, "Noctis! You're here!"

"Hi Stella." Noctis said without a smile. That got Stella even more nervous. "Oh no! What's with the dull greeting! I look hideous don't I? DON'T I?"

Noctis shook his head, "No, you look beautiful." He then dismissively looked back to the table, "So, are we gonna eat or what?"

"Seriously Noctis, what's _with_ your moping?" Tifa curiously asked, "It's the holidays."

"Yeah, you won't believe it," Vaan pointed out, "But prince-a-lot here never had a Christmas before in his life."

"Never?" Stella exclaimed.

"Ever." Tidus then confirmed, with Vaan nodding his head.

"And I don't know what the big deal is." Noctis solemnly said.

"What the big deal? It's Christmas!" Stella exclaimed and the whole table except Noctis agreed, "It's a time for giving and sharing…" Vaan was about to make a snide remark based on what she said but Stella pointed the finger at him, "Don't push it."

"…and it's also a time to spend with family and friends." Terra B. pointed out.

"And gifts!" Tidus exclaimed.

"So what? I'm a loner." Noctis said, "and Christmas ain't my thing... and I'm not about to start one now..."

"How about we help you start one now?" Stella cheerfully said before facing the guys.

"What did I just say?" Noctis complained.

"Guys. Go order some foods. Delicious ones even." Stella said to the guys.

"I'll have some spicy chicken!" Terra B. gleefully said.

"All right, but can we make it fast?" Vaan moped, "We gotta watch that movie in less than an hour. We won't have enough time to care for the grumpy and the bah-humbug!"

"Yeah!" the guys all suddenly agreed.

"What movie?" Tifa curiously asked.

"_Tron Legacy." _Squall said, "It's action-packed. No girls allowed."

"Well, this is gonna have to wait." Penelo said to the guys, "First priority is to cheer up Noctis."

"What?" the guys exclaimed.

"Since when do you change plans? We were supposed to watch that movie together as a coup—err… as BFFLs"

"Since Squall said that the movie's no girls allowed." Penelo replied.

The guys groaned. Tidus glowered at Squall, "Thanks a lot, Squall!"

Squall just shrugged. The guys went to one of the food stands of the food court.

"Come on guys. The faster we do this, the better time to can watch half of the action." Cloud said. "We order the same thing, but Terra gets the spicy chicken."

Mog, the moogle appeared on the stand, "Kupo-po! Welcome to Kupo Chow! May I take your orders, Kupo?"

"Yeah, give us Teriyaki for eight, and spicy chicken for Terra."

Snow suddenly appeared from underground manga-style, freaking the guys out, "Did you just say Terra?" he exclaimed.

"Uhh, yeah." Squall said, "And put a side of fried rice on that, and make it quick."

Snow grinned evilly, "You got it." He blew a whistle and all Moogles including Mog gathered around him like a football huddle, "You know what to do right?"

Mog showed Snow the dangerous pepper bottle they snatched from Zack back in the kitchen. Snow's grin grew wide, "Beautiful…"

Snow, Mog, and the Moogles quickly served the foods, and poured half a bottle of the pepper on the spicy chicken, and handed the food over to the guys,

"Here you go. That'll be 45.50 Gil." Snow grinned.

"Wow, that's expensive." Cloud said before paying the amount. Vaan glowered at Snow nervously, "Can you stop with that freakish smile? It's scaring me."

Snow stopped smiling, "Sorry."

The guys left with the foods and went back to the table, unaware of the scheme Snow was about to pull on them. Snow and the Moogles secretly high-fived each other. "We did it! I can't believe it, Kupo!" Mog giggled.

"I know. And pretty soon, Terra's mouth's gonna be on fire so much, they'll be calling the fire department!"

"Yeah, great… except…" another Moogle watched as the guys served the food at the table and served Terra B. the lethal spicy chicken, "…that's not Terra!"

Mog saw Terra B. and gasped, "THAT'S TERRA _BRANFORD_! The GIRL Terra!"

"WHAAAT?" Snow screamed. He jumped over the stand, pushing customers and passersby out of the way, trying to reach the table, "NO, DON'T EAT—!"

Terra B. took a bite out of the chicken. Snow froze. "…t…that…"

Her face turned red, and tears came pouring out of her eyes like waterfall. "AAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!" she screamed, flames literally shooting out from her throat. Her body suddenly shot off from its seat and flew around the food court, out of control. Everyone freaked out as she morphed into her Esper Form and turned violent from the peppers. She shot flames around like a dragon, destroying Christmas decors hanging from the ceiling and burning down a nearby Christmas tree, even almost struck down a Mall Santa Claus. Everyone went screaming and running for their lives.

"Terra! TERRAA!" Vaan called out to her, "Calm down!"

Terra's eyes glowered at Vaan, like a robot who just found its target. She shot another flaming beam and it struck the table. Everyone jumped out of the way unharmed. Terra closed in on Stella and was about to finish her. Noctis jumped in, grabbed all the shopping bags and tossed them at Terra, creating distraction. Terra shot the shopping bags down with her flames. Noctis quickly seized his change and waved his hand toward her, freezing Terra on contact. The frozen Esper fell on the ground, subdued. Everyone went to see if she was okay, and security and paramedics went to seek her medical attention.

An angry Cloud ran up to Snow, "What did you gave her?" Squall followed.

"I… kinda gave her something… like this?" Snow nervously showed Cloud the bottle. Cloud angrily slapped the bottle from Snow's hand and pointed at him.

"You gave her Flaming Peppers?" Squall yelled.

"WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL?" Cloud barked.

"I'm sorry, I thought she was… someone else…"

"We demand our meals free for the damage!" Squall growled, "Give us back the money. Now."

The moogles quickly paid Squall and Cloud back their Gils. Cloud and Squall left Snow to see if Terra B. was okay.

"But I thought she was somebody else." Snow mumbled. He angrily faced the Moogles, "That guy said Terra! TERRA!"

"But he didn't say Terra _Branford_!" Mog shrugged.

"But what kind of psycho would give a girl the name TERRA!" Snow snapped.

"…somebody called me?" Terra, the BOY Terra, suddenly appeared from underground manga-style, freaking Snow and the Moogles out. "AaUGGH!"

"You!" Snow growled.

"Hey, I gotta give you props. You wanted to prank someone who looked like me, but you fail to identify someone with the same _name _as me. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Rookie mistake. Here. Have a cookie for your effort." Terra offered Snow a cookie. Snow glared at it, then back at Terra.

"It's Macademian."

"Ooh!" Snow quickly grabbed the cookie and took a bite.

_SNAPS!_

"AAAUGGGH! MY MOUTH! MY MOOOUUUTH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OHHHFFF!" Snow's lips got trapped by some metal. The moogles quickly rushed to his aid and removed the cookie from his lips.

"A mouse trap!" Mog screamed, upon uncovering a small trap buried in the cookie.

"Hey, pranks can get ugly right?" Terra winked and quietly left the food court.

**xXx**

_Back at Edenhall, was a troubled boy; conflicted he was, from all the tales of nonbelievers yonder, was still on the quest to make believers and himself witness Santa Claus._

Ventus was heading to the Library with the milk and cookies on hand. Terra who just arrived from the mall saw him.

"Ven. Still up to your old tricks?" he smiled at his brotherly friend.

"I just want those kids to believe okay?" Ven snapped. "I just learned from Zack that Santa Claus doesn't exist. I mean, what craziness is that? What about all those gifts I got from under the tree when I was a boy?"

"You know, I was a boy once." Terra said, "And I believed."

"Oh, fantastic." Ven grumbled, "That's two nonbelievers I see. No, make that four."

"Hey, wait a second." Terra stopped him. Ven sighed, "You gotta know that Christmas isn't just about getting presents. It's about spending time with the people you love. Family and friends…"

"Yeah?" Ven smiled.

Terra nodded.

Ven's smile quickly vanished, "Well, what's the point of Christmas if kids don't believe in Christmas miracles? I'm outta here." And he was off.

Aqua saw the whole thing and approached Terra. "Still don't wanna listen huh?" she sighed.

"Yeah… but he'll find out sooner or later." Terra said.

"Speaking of Christmas present, I couldn't resist." Aqua handed Terra a gift. "I made you something."

"Oh, sweet." Terra ripped open the wrapping and opened the box.

BOOOOMMM! An explosion singed Terra's face. The smoke cleared up and Terra's hair looked wild and his face was charred.

"HAAAH! HAHAHAHAHA!" A cackling laugh was heard. It was Snow, pointing and laughing at Terra. "Psych! Explosive Christmas Present! Works every time."

Terra glared back at Aqua, growling under his breath. Aqua shrugged nervously, "I'm sorry Terra, but Snow promised me 200 Gil if I helped him prank you."

"Here's your payment as promise." Snow tossed Aqua the Gil, "Get yourself something nice, ya naughty girl."

"Don't push it."

"Sorry."

Aqua left happily with the cash. Terra grinned back at Snow, "Well played, my young protégé. You singed my face _and _destroyed my beautiful eyebrows." His grin faded to a menacing glare, "But this isn't over… somehow, someway… I… am gonna get'cha." He approached Snow till they were nose-to-nose.

Snow smirked, "…yeah, like you will get me before I do."

"Well, bring it on then."

"Oh, I'll bring it. By the way, what's it?"

"I dunno. But _I…_ will bring it. And make sure you don't prank another Terra next time, like I dunno, the _world_ Terra?"

"Grr…"

The two boys left.

**xXx Next Chapter xXx**


	4. SquareEnix Adventures on Christmas Day 2

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
Adventures on Christmas Day  
**part 2 of 3

* * *

_And so Noctis lost his Christmas spirit. How will others be dealing with this?_

_And what is up with Riku and Kairi? Will they make it to the finale?_

_As long as there are no pranks on the scene, everything shall be fine indeed._

**xXx**

Back at Mt. Crystallis, live from the Winter Fantasy ice rink stage:

"The results are in!" Matthew said as he opened the envelope. "The finalists for the Winter Fantasy competition are…"

He was about to read it but Tyrell snatched the letter from him and read it instead, "Balthier and Fran!"

The crowd cheered and applauded as Balthier and Fran took the stage to greet their fans. Riku, Kairi, Sora, and Namine all looked rather glum.

"Great. They're going to the final round." Kairi said with a sigh, "What chance do we have for us to be in the finals?"

"I wouldn't worry too much Kairi." Sora said with a reassuring smile, "There's always next year." He then faced Riku, "It's kinda too bad that you two won't be dancing again."

"And our second finalists are…!" Matthew revealed, "…RIKU AND KAIRI!"

The crowd cheered and applauded again just when the spotlight hit on Riku and Kairi. They looked speechless. Namine quickly screamed in cheer, "Oh my gosh! You're in the finals! Well, go on! Go on! Fans are waiting!"

Riku and Kairi quickly ran to the ice rink to greet their fans, full of smiles. Sora was grumbling with his arms crossed.

"Thank you for watching the first live competition! We'll be back in just one hour for the grand finale competition when the Winter Fantasy competition returns!" Tyrell said.

Every one dispersed from the ice rink and so did the contestants.

"Congratulations guys!" Namine squealed, "Oh my gosh! I cannot believe you're in the finals! We should celebrate! Right Sora?" Namine turned to a green-of-jealousy Sora.

"Yeah… we should." Sora said, trying to hide his jealousy.

"How about ice cream?" Riku proposed.

"How about lunch?" Kairi proposed again.

"Even better." Riku agreed and the group took off.

**xXx**

_With Snow and Terra competing for gifts, who shall be crown pranksters on this Christmas Eve?_

Snow was waking up from his siesta. His eyes fluttered opened and he looked up to see Terra all up on his face.

"HEY!" Snow jumped.

"Mornin' buddy." Terra grinned, "You sure are a heavy sleeper. Or should I say… heavy _slipper_?"

"What?" Snow looked up to see his bed in the middle of the Mt. Crystallis ice rink, surrounded by people and the media!

"KYAAA!"

Terra pushed Snow's bed and skated off. Everyone started laughing out loud as the bed was slipping around the rink. Snow tried to get out of bed, but he couldn't control the bed that was slipping out-of-controllably. "HEAAALP! HEAAALP! HEAAAALLLPP!" he was screaming and everyone was laughing uproariously.

Later…

"This is your Moogle Newsanchor, reporting you live at Mt. Crystallis, of a mean prank someone just pulled on an innocent SquareCity citizen. Just watch!"

Snow is seen on the TV, screaming his guts out. Serah who was cutting on the vegetables accidentally cut herself when she saw this, "Ouch!"

Sazh who was just passing by saw the mess she just did, "Dang, woman. Didn't your mama ever taught you not to play with knives?"

"Very funny Sazh." Serah frowned before showing him the news report, "I got distracted."

Sazh watched the report. At that same moment, Lightning came in.

"HA! HA! HA!" Sazh laughed heartily, "Man, these boys would do ANYTHING for your gifts, Lighting! Whoo-wee! Pass me the popcorn!"

"…augh…why do I even bother." Lightning mumbled before trailing off the room.

"Where are you goin'?" Serah asked.

"You'd be surprised."

**xXx**

Back at the mall,

"You're okay now Terra?" Cloud asked Terra Branford, who had recovered to normal from her scare earlier.

"I'm fine now…" she sighed.

"You really freaked us out before." Vaan said."Don't do that again, all right?"

"You can't just tell her not to do that again." Squall told Vaan, "It wasn't her fault you know?"

"I know. But I don't like it when people freak out on me like that."

Tifa looked around, as if someone was missing, "Hey, where's Noctis?"

All heads looked around the mall. No sign of the dark prince.

"I haven't seen him since the incident." Penelo said.

Noctis was finally spotted. He was about 20 feet away from the food court, sitting on a chair, all by his lonesome. His chin resting on one hand, as he watched children and their families playing on the ice rink one floor below and having a good time. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"HEEY, Noctis!" Stella squealed, startling him.

"Groanns… what the hell now?" he groaned.

"Just wanted to check how you were doing?"

"Go away. I'm not in the mood." Noctis was about to stand up but Stella grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back to his seat, "Aw come on! You're not in the mood for what? To hang out with us? Do some Christmas shopping? Make some Christmas magic?"

"The only magic I have is a dark one."

Tifa, Penelo and Terra joined Stella and Noctis. The guys were staying behind.

"At least have a candy cane." Penelo offered a candy cane to Noctis. Noctis stared at it for a short time before dumping it into a trash can.

"Wow, you're hopeless." Tifa frowned, "Obviously, someone is not in the Christmas mood."

"Well, we'll make YOU into the Christmas mood!" Stella shouted, with full determination, "To the mall everyone!"

"Err… we're already at the mall." Terra B. said.

"Well, then to every store in this mall!" Stella shouted again, with full determination. The girls pulled Noctis out of his seat and began dragging him to the nearby store they could find.

"Good luck!" The guys waved to the girls and Noctis who vanished.

"So," Tidus turned to face the guys, "What are the chances that these girls will win Noctis over his humbug spirit?"

…fifteen minutes later…

The girls returned, all torn and carrying no shopping bags.

"To answer your question, Tidus; zero chance." Squall said.

"What happened?" Vaan asked.

"More of those crazed Christmas shoppers…" Tifa spoke a raspy voice. She then coughed and smoke shot out of her mouth.

"What's that smoke came from?" Cloud asked.

"I have NO idea."

"And Noctis?"

The girls pointed. The guys turned to see Noctis back in his seat where he was before, with his chin resting on his hand.

"THAT GUY IS LIKE STONE!" Penelo snapped, "He's impossible to cheer up! You guys should do it!"

"What?" Squall said.

"No!" Tidus exclaimed, "We have that cool movie we wanna watch!"

"Then watch it another time!" Stella snapped, "This guy needs to have his Christmas spirit brightened whether you like it or not!"

"And you can watch your movie another time." Tifa said.

Vaan growled, "You're impossible. How are we going to cheer him up, if YOU girls can't?"

"Improvise!" Stella said.

"And you need a little push." Terra B. said before casting a small gust on the guys, blowing them toward Noctis. All fell right into Noctis' lap.

"What the hell again?" Noctis snapped.

"Oh hey, Noctis!" Tidus said, "Oh, so you want me to tell you what I want for Christmas? Well, I want…"

"…you to get off my lap!" Noctis snapped and pushed the guys off him. The guys got up.

"And we want you to cheer up!" Vaan said.

"You want _me _to cheer up?" Noctis asked.

"Yeah. The girls forced us to cheer you up, so get off our backs and put that smile on your face for once."

"What he meant," Cloud replied, "was that, you need to…" he paused, not knowing how to change that statement into something less insulting. "… aw, screw it, we want you to put that smile on your face for once. Come on."

The guys pulled Noctis off the couch.

"How about we go watch that movie together?" Tidus proposed.

"I hate movies." Noctis said.

"Okay, so what _do_ you like?" Squall asked.

Noctis shrugged, "Surprise me."

The guys looked at each other then back at Noctis who still shrugged like he didn't give a care to the world.

"Oh-kay. Let's try surprising you." Tidus said and the guys took off with Noctis.

The guys reached the main level of the mall to Santa's Station.

"How about a visit to see the jolly old man?" Vaan proposed.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" a Santa Claus was heard laughing from a distance. The guys watched children, young and old, with parents and families all lined up in orderly fashion, facing a mall Santa Claus sitting on a comfy throne. Next to him were a couple of Moogles, dressed up like elves, and Chocobos like reindeers.

"Ugh… that thing again." Noctis groaned.

The guys gasped.

"That THING-!" Tidus exclaimed, "Is Santa Claus! The greatest hero in this Final Fantasy! Pay your respect, jeepers!"

"Oh, I'll pay him some respect." Noctis said before pushing through the lined-up crowd, " 'scuse me. Move it. Watch it."

The crowd complained at the intruder who was cutting through the line and their time. Tidus and Vaan panicked, except Cloud and Squall.

"I gotta say, I like his spunk." Squall smiled.

"You tell me." Cloud said.

"COME ON GUYS! WE GOTTA STOP HIM!" Vaan exclaimed and the guys tried to push through the crowd who weren't ready to accept being cut through again. Noctis finally reached the Santa Claus who was with a little girl.

"You have some nerve." Noctis said.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" the Santa Claus laughed, "And a Merry Christmas to you too. Err… please wait your turn."

"Err, yeah. I've been waiting… all Christmas eves." Noctis picked up the girl from Santa's lap and dropped her away.

"What the—?" The Santa Claus gasped.

"I don't know what kind of thing you fakes like to pull at this time of year, but it's pretty heartless: telling kids what do they want for Christmas and making false promises to them that their gifts be delivered on the night before, only to have them disappointed the next day!"

"Now that's absurd!"

"Hmph." Noctis ripped the beard off the Santa Claus revealing his true face! The crowd gasped. Even the children! Even Cloud who KNEW that Santa Claus. "Cid Highwind?"

"There it is, children." Noctis revealed, "The lie you've been told all centuries, and spanning through generations. Magic may exist, but not this one."

The children started crying.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" Cid screamed and jumped on Noctis. The two started fighting. The guys jumped in as well. Before everyone knew it, the crowd got into a nasty commotion.

…fifteen minutes later…

"You PUNCHED a Santa Claus?" Stella yelled at the guys, who were locked in the mall jail cell. The girls just heard about the commotion and came in to get them out.

"You lucky I didn't press any CHARGES!" Cid hissed at Noctis before he walked away with a police officer, holding a bag of ice over his bruised chin.

"Good to see you again, Cid…" Cloud sighed. "I guess."

Stella shook her head, "What were you thinking?" she said to Noctis.

"I was thinking a good slugging would've at least knocked out his two front teeth." Noctis mumbled, "See if he can whistle Merry Christmas. Now how about I go home?" he then proposed, "My _real_ home."

"You know what?" Vaan then snapped, "Go! Go wherever you want, pal! Because we're done trying to cheer you up!"

"Yeah!" Tidus replied, "If you wanna be a Scrooge for the rest of your life, slugging all Santa Clauses and mocking the public for their love for Christmas, then so be it! We going to see our movie!"

Tidus and Vaan walked away.

"Err, guys." Cloud said, "The movie ended."

"We'll catch the NEXT one!" Vaan snapped, and out the door the two teens were.

They finally reached the Mall Cineplex where they were greeted by a lovely young blonde with cerulean blue eyes.

"Hello gentlemen. Just the ones I've been expecting." She greeted warmly.

"Yeah, whatever. Tickets to see _Tron: Legacy_?" Vaan said.

"And a jumbo-size popcorn to go?" Tidus said.

"Oh I'm afraid I can't let you see the movie." The woman said.

"Say what?" the guys said.

"We have the perfect movie experience made especially for you instead." The woman said, "My name is Aya Brea and I'll be your personal assistant. Please come with me to the VIP lounge."

"VIP?" the guys glee with excitement and followed Aya to their destination. They took a secret elevator, which took them to a movie theater room with a galaxy-view skylight right above them. Two comfy sofas were right in the middle of the room and they were moogles in suits, carrying gold towels and empty silver platters.

"Whoaaa~!" they breathed.

"Please take your seat." Aya said and they did.

"Would you care for a little back massage?" she asked and they nodded. The moogles went to massage their backs. "Oohhh…"

"How about a little foot massage?" she asked and the moogles went to massage their feet. "Aaahhh…"

"A little facial?" she asked and they got their facial: peppermint mud mask and citrus over their eyes, "Oohhh…"

"And finally our feature presentation." Aya said, "Tonight we'll be showing you 'A Christmas Noctis Carol.'"

The guys jumped off their sofas, "Say what?"

The whole galactic atmosphere turned dark all of the sudden, and the guys heard a driven ominous music in high-def as the motion picture began to show.

"Is this some kind of JOKE?" Vaan exclaimed.

"We wanted to see _Tron Legacy_, not the _Suite Life of Noctis_!" Tidus hissed as the image of Noctis' castle was displayed in front of him.

"This is no ordinary movie." Aya Brea replied, "This is only to take you on a journey throughout Noctis' Christmas life: past, present, and future. And I'm afraid that you won't be able to leave this place until you fully watched it and learn to change his Christmas spirit."

"Oh yeah?" Vaan said, "Watch me." Vaan was about to get off the sofa when he almost fell off into a huge hole, "AAAAHHHH!" he screamed and Tidus quickly grabbed him just in time.

The boys quickly noticed the sofas they were sitting on were floating in the middle of nowhere. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE FLOOR?" Tidus freaked out.

"It's a little thing I'd like to call Christmas Magic." Aya replied calmly, "So will you enjoy the movie with us?"

"OK! OK! WE'LL ENJOY THE MOVIE!" Tidus exclaimed as he pulled Vaan back onto his sofa, "Just don't expect us to ENJOY it!"

Vaan was still gasping, freaking out by his near-death experience, "…I'm… I'm okay… gasp…"

**xXx**

_And as two must learn to restore a Christmas spirit by watching a movie,_

_One must learn to keep his cool, by not showing any jealousy._

Back at Mt. Crystallis, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Namine were at an outdoor restaurant having a delicious meal, whilst enjoying a firework lightshow spectacular not far from the Winter Fantasy ice rink.

"Isn't this beautiful?" Kairi said to her friends, "This floating resort has so much to offer."

"I know." Riku added, "I love the display of the Winter Fantasy Show fireworks. It's awesome."

"So you've heard about that mean prank Terra pulled on Snow earlier back at the rink?" Sora said, chewing loudly on his food, "It's so hilarious! That put me in the mood." He then sat back, unwound, and out came a loud burp.

"Ew, Sora." Namine yelped.

"That's the mood they put you in?" Kairi chuckled.

Sora shrugged, "Sorry, can't help it… ham, turkey, eggnog ice cream. Nothing beats the holidays like foods."

"Yeah, but why do you have to burp so loud?" Kairi said.

"You're not the boss of me!" Sora snapped.

Zack, Isa, and Thunder joined the rest of the cast. "Hey guys, have you seen Lea? It's an emergency." Isa asked.

"No, but have you seen Thunder?" Sora's eyes went wide when he saw Thunder, so did everyone on the table. Thunder's face was all bright red and he looked like a sumo wrestler who had added an additional 300-pound. His cool outfit was all torn up only to reveal his almost torn up underwear.

Riku stifled, "Seriously, what in Kingdom Hearts' name happened?"

"A reaction to the Flaming Feathers." Thunder spoke, his voice sounding like his mouth was swollen, "Obviously, SOMEBODY should have warned me?" he angrily snapped at Zack.

"I DID warn you!" Zack exclaimed, "You're the one who wanted to TRY it out, Mr. Risk-it-all! And besides, the effect should worn off in thirty minutes or so."

"Which is why we need to find Lea, fast!" Isa said, "Thunder will be okay with this, but what about everyone else? He must NOT serve those citizens those deathly dishes."

_Ice cream, huh? _Sora thought. He looked around and spotted Lea with a stack of his venomous creations. He then stared at the table filled with leftovers and all… no dessert, he thought. He then mustered a menacing smile before leaving the table as the rest of his comrades got distracted.

Not far from that table at that same moment, a young man with his Chocobo arrived. The young man tied up his Chocobo, but loosely, to a stable. "Now Boko, you stay right here. No funny business, a'ight?"

The Chocobo nodded and the young man took off. Sora passed right by him, "Excuse me?" and finally reached Lea, "There you are."

"Ah, Sora. Just in time to try out my Pepper Puffs Ice Cream." Lea said with a smile, "They're to die for."

"Ah! Ohh! Believe me. They will kill." Sora replied with his menacing smile, "I'll take a bucket!"

Lea looked startled, "Whoa, serious? A bucket?"

Sora nodded.

"A'ight. Suit yourselves for a-ten, fifteen Gil only!" Lea said.

Sora paid Lea for the ice cream, "Here you go! Oh, and whatever happened, I never saw you."

Lea raised an eyebrow, "Why? You just did, and you just made my Christmas business start off with a bang! So why keep the quiet? Spread the news man! HEY!" Lea yelled to the crowd, catching everyone's attention, "COME GET YOUR PEPPER PUFFS ICE CREAM RIGHT NOW FOR 5 GIL! AND A BUCKET FOR 15!"

Sora panicked, "Hey, would you be quiet?"

But Lea wasn't listening, "BEING PURCHASED ONLY BY MY MAN RIGHT HERE—!"

"I said be quiet!" Sora tossed the bucket of ice creams as he tried to shut Lea's mouth. The bucket flew over the crowd, all the ice cream falling all over like snow. The Chocobo Boko eyeballed an ice cream that went straight into Riku's hair.

"KWEEEH!" The Chocobo squealed, snapped the rope from the stable and took off running. Everyone screamed and got out of the way from the runaway bird beast. The young man ran to the stable too late, failing to stop his Chocobo pet, "Boko! No!" he shouted.

Back at the table, Riku and the others were still talking, unaware of the danger that was coming from a flaming pepper ice cream still buried underneath Riku's full head of hair.

"Look, if we can't find Lea, lots of people are gonna get hurt!" Isa said.

"Like me." Thunder said.

"Riku?" Kairi asked him. Riku turned to face her. She was staring frantically at Riku, as if something was wrong with him.

"What? What is it?" he asked, already a bit worried.

"Why is your head, bleeding?"

"My head bleeding?" Riku felt something liquid trailing down his forehead from his head. He wiped a sample with his finger and examined it, "That's not my blood, that's…!"

Everyone stared at the substance, "Ice cream?" they said.

"KWEEEH!" The Chocobo is heard from afar. All heads turned to the direction of screaming people getting out of the way. They watched as the Chocobo came charging.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

Riku searched frantically for the melting ice cream from his head. He quickly grabbed it, but just as he was about to throw it, the Chocobo tackled the table, knocking every dish and everyone apart. The rope around the Chocobo's neck trailed behind, wrapped around Riku's leg, and pulled. Before Riku knew it, he was dragged around Mt. Crystallis by the Chocobo. Everyone screamed. "RIKU!"

"UWAAAHHH!" Riku yelped.

"Boko!" The young man ran behind, chasing his Chocobo, "I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!"

Sora and Lea rushed behind as well. They watched as the screaming Chocobo wasn't listening to his master, ravaging every table and every place he could see. Before everyone knew it, the Chocobo was heading straight for a nearby cliff that was overlooking a massive frozen ocean. Everyone screamed.

"RIKUUU!"

The Chocobo saw the ocean and screamed, "KWEEEH!" He put on the brakes. He was inches away from falling 70-feet off the cliff when he finally stopped. But Riku wasn't that lucky: he flew off the cliff!

"UWWAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone watched in horror Riku disappearing over the frozen ocean, his screaming trailing off until a massive crash was heard below. Everyone ran to the cliff to see what has happened to Riku.

"RIKU!" Kairi exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

"He's fine…" Namine predicted, "…I mean, I think I know he is."

"Riku!" Zack shouted. "Dude, if you're okay, say something!"

"… ow…" Riku's painful groan was all they could hear.

The gang let out a sigh of relief.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Kairi shouted to the public and everyone dispersed out to get some help

_What happened to Riku was tragic, and so dead is the couple's chance at winning the Winter Fantasy._

xXx

Riku was in an ambulance. Kairi, Naminé, Zack, Thunder, and Sora were by his side. Thunder had returned to his normal form, but he was still red-faced.

"Riku, you're okay?" Sora asked, "Wow, you're pretty banged up."

Riku was all wrapped up in bandages. He couldn't speak, but could only groan.

"How could this have happened?" Kairi yelled in horror, "You got tackled by a Chocobo!"

"All because of an ice cream." Naminé shook her head.

"An ice cream?" Sora asked, acting out.

"Well, yeah." Zack replied, "A bizarre ice cream fell into Riku's head earlier and that's why the Chocobo tackled him."

Isa rejoined the gang to reveal his findings, "That ice cream was a Flaming Pepper." He said, "Lea was nearby, and apparently he got to his first customer."

Sora gulped, knowing that _he_ was that customer.

"But I guess that customer didn't like his ice cream either." Thunder pointed out, "Which explains why it landed into Riku's head."

Riku groaned again.

"Ohh, Riku…" Kairi rushed to Riku's side and kissed him on the forehead, "I'm so sorry this has to happen to you! Especially when we were THIS close to winning the Winter Fantasy Finals!"

An ambulance operator came to the scene and escorted everyone out of the ambulance, "Sorry everyone, but we gotta take him to the hospital now for procedures."

"We can visit him right?" Naminé asked.

"I dunno." The operator said, "With today being Christmas Eve and all, I'm afraid the hospital might be closed."

The ambulance closed its back door and took off for its destination. Kairi then faced the rest of the gang, "Guys! What are we going to do now?"

"Simple." Spoke the voice of Balthier nearby. All heads turned to him and his partner Fran. "Why don't you just…" he shrugged, "Oh, I dunno… drop out of the competition?"

"It'll make everyone's lives easier here." Fran said.

"How about you shove it, rabbit freak?" Sora insulted Fran. Fran angrily approached Sora, till they were nose-to-chest (with Sora being the one facing Fran's chest)

"How about you say that again, and this time, articulate it with all your teeth in?" Fran threatened with a fist forming.

Sora's eyes trailed Fran's chest to face her angry red eyes. He stammered, "I… I… I…" He quickly shook his head, snapping out of it, and cleared his throat, "Look." He spoke firmly, "All I'm saying is that we're not gonna give up!"

All heads turned to face Sora. "Yeah, that's right!" Sora replied as if in response to their questionable looks, "WE, are not giving up! With Riku out of the pict—err… out of the running, it doesn't mean that we're going to be out of the running as well! _I_ will compete with Kairi."

Everyone gasped.

"Y-You?" Balthier stifled, "Competing against _us_?"

Fran and Balthier suddenly laughed uproariously. They left the gang; still laughing hard like there was no tomorrow.

"You… are going to compete for the Winter Fantasy Finals?" Zack asked Sora who nodded with confidence.

"But… you suck!" Naminé said.

Sora cocked his head on one side, feeling offended. Naminé quickly added, "…well, at figure skating of course! Not at everything else! I mean, you can't skate!"

"Of course I can't skate! But…" Sora turned to face Kairi, "…if Kairi can teach me, I can pick it up before the main event, right? I mean we only got like what? An hour?"

"Dude." Thunder stared at his watch, "It's fifteen minutes before the main event."

"...oh." Sora mumbled. He quickly perked up, "But still, that's not gonna stop me from making my best girl…" he stammered, "…f-f-friend, the happiest girl this holiday season. So, what do you say?"

Kairi smiled before giving Sora a kiss on the cheek, "Sora. You just made me that happiest girl this holiday season. And yes, I will teach you how to skate."

xXx

Back at the mall,

"Sniff… sniff… this is so SAAAD!" Tidus was wiping a tear.

"I know!" Vaan whimpered, "Who could survive a Christmas like this?"

Tidus and Vaan, stuck in a movie theater room in the middle of outer space, couldn't stop staring at the Christmas life of Noctis: the movie they were watching. They were showing the scene where a young Noctis was sitting on his throne, a hand on his chin.

"Believe me." Aya Brea said, "That was just his Christmas past. This is his Christmas present."

Another picture of Noctis sitting on a chair all alone with his hand on his chin is shown again. The setting was this time at the mall, where they were.

"So he's gonna be miserable like this?" Tidus asked, "Watching people having a good time and he can't?"

"Ever since he lost everything he is not used to cheer up on Christmas." Aya Brea explained, "Especially with the fact that…!"

"…he _actually_ lost everything on Christmas," Vaan added, "his family, his life… yeah, we know. You just showed us the footage."

"And now that I have showed you his Christmas Present." Aya Brea said, "Here is his Christmas future."

Another picture of Noctis sitting on a chair all alone with his hand on his chin is shown again. This time, he was facing a very large tombstone in the middle of a wasteland cemetery. The tombstone had the name of all of his families and friends he had lost in the past. A tear streamed down his cheek as he whispered, "Merry Christmas…"

"AaAUUGGH!" Tidus and Vaan broke down crying their eyes out.

"Okay! No more! Shut this down!" Tearful Tidus jumped off the couch.

"TIDUS! The FLOOR!" Vaan freaked out, but Tidus's feet landed on solid ground, "…Huh?"

The movie ended and the whole galactic setting turned back to normal. Aya Brea turned to face Tidus and Vaan, "So now that you've seen everything, what do you think?" she asked.

"So is he gonna be that lonely for the rest of his life?" Tidus asked.

"Not the rest of his life." Aya replied, "Only whenever Christmas is around. Christmas, to Noctis, has been a time of pain and sorrow throughout his life."

"Which is why he's not used to seeing people spreading peace and joy all around." Vaan said.

Both Vaan and Tidus looked at each other. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Vaan asked Tidus. Both teens grinned.

"It's time to spread some Christmas cheer!" Tidus pumped a fist in the air, "Thanks Aya!" and the teens were off.

Back at the food court, the girls and the guys were slouching at a table, as if impatiently waiting for someone.

"Okay, first we had problem with Terra and her pepper incident, and then we couldn't get Noctis all cheered up, and now Tidus and Vaan are missing." Tifa complained, before facing Cloud, "Are you sure you checked all the movie theaters rooms?"

"Yes." Cloud complained, "ALL of them. What else do you want from us?"

Stella angrily slammed her hands on the table, "WHAT ELSE? I want to go home! And if those two boys are gone, and we can't make Noctis happy, then why are we still here?"

"Hey, the shopping experience is still happening," Penelo said to Stella, attempting to cheer her up, "Christmas Eve, last-minute sale…"

"Bah-Humbug." Stella mumbled, "I'm all maxed out! And besides, everything I brought got burnt, _remember_?" she glared at Terra B. on cue. Terra B. receded, "…sorry about that."

"We still can make Noctis happy!" cried out Vaan from afar.

"HO-HO-HOOHH!" Tidus yelled out from afar also. All heads looked up to see the two boys running toward them.

"Where have you been?" Squall scolded.

"Nevermind that, where's Noctis?" Tidus said.

Penelo pointed, "Right there, where does his usual moping."

"Not anymore!" Vaan said before running toward Noctis. The rest of the group followed him. Vaan grabbed the chair Noctis was sitting on by the legs, and pulled with great force. Noctis fell flat on his face.

"HEEY!" Noctis yelled, "WHAT'S THE BIG—!"

Tidus slammed a Santa Hat onto Noctis's head, while Vaan stuffed a candy cane onto his mouth.

"We're going on a trip!" Vaan said.

"A trip?" everyone said together.

"To Mt. Crystallis!" Tidus replied, "and watch the Winter Fantasy Finals! I heard they'll be serving hot ice cream? No really. HOT ice cream."

"Sounds delicious!" Terra B. cheered.

"I agree." Penelo grinned.

"Yeah, I'll pass…" Noctis muttered, "I'm not in the—!"

"Hey!" Tidus interrupted Noctis, "Would your folks be happy with you that you're still grieving? No. They'll want you to move on."

"So get a grip, man!" Vaan said, "We're going. Come on, everyone!" And they were off, dragging the reluctant Noctis with them.

**xXx**

Edenhall Scales XIII, the Grand Library; where Ventus and the Mysidian twins Palom and Porom were waiting, anxiously, for the arrival of the jolly father of Christmas, Santa Claus. Note: anxiously, as Ven being the one who was anxious, shaking his leg uncontrollably and staring gruesomely at the clock.

"Man. It's been HOURS!" he mumbled, "How long has it been since we've been waiting here?"

"10 minutes." Palom said.

More silence ensues. Ven got more and more anxious, and the twins could see it.

"You sure you don't wanna give up and bet for the same thing next year?" Porom said calmly.

"Scoff!" Ven scoffed, "In your dreams, kids! Santa's gonna be here, whether you like it or not. You know what; I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Ven got up his seat and started for the exit.

"You were there like 20 minutes ago." Suspicious Palom caused Ven to freeze up.

"S…so?" Ven said, "Gotta bladder problem… it's personal."

"Okay, fine." Porom said, "Just makin' sure that you're not gonna go outside and use your Keyblade to transform yourself into Santa Claus."

Ven suddenly burst out laughing, "HAA! HAA! HAA! Ohh, please… now why would I even do that?"

"To fool us." Palom replied.

"Now you guys are really smart children. But that…ahem… doesn't… mean that…you're …gonna see… no…ahem… difference, y'know… I mean…phew…"

Ven continued for the exit again.

"You're not gonna go ask Terra or Aqua to transform _themselves_ into Santa Claus and have one to them being the trusty Elf companion right?" Palom asked again.

"…Whaaaat? Noooo… and if I ever was to find Terra and Aqua, it'll be outside that chilly snowy weather, where they are now, doing some caroling! And I'm not into caroling!"

"Terra isn't into caroling either."

"Look, every person is different, a'ight?" Ven turned around and quickly went for the exit again.

"Ohh-kay. At least you didn't dress up the Chocobo with a Reindeer costume, and briefly taught him how to fly." Porom added.

Silence.

"WHO'RE YOU TO JUDGE? NOW LEMME GO PEE!" Ven barked before quickly stormed out of the library and slammed the door shut.

Ven huffed, as if he just escaped a raging canine, "I have got to find a way to outsmart those kids." He said, "I don't wanna lose my Wayfarer's Charm."

"Yo, excuse me, kid."

Ven turned his attention toward four young guys, all cozy in their fancy winter coats. They looked like a celebrity group.

"We're kinda lost." a blond young man said, the first in the group, said. "We're Big Time Rush."

"Yeah, I know." Ven added, "I'm kinda in a big time rush too, trying to outsmart a couple of kids. Don't wanna lose a bet..."

"Err... Actually, _we're _Big Time Rush." the second guy, a tall handsome-looking dark haired guy introduced, "It's the name of the band."

"Oh cool." Ven said. "...never heard of you though, to be honest."

"Oh, that's because we're not from around here." the third guy, another handsome one who actually is shorter and more cheerful than the rest of the group added, "We're from L.A."

"Yeah, and we're kinda lost." the fourth guy, who is also short but appears to be smart for a good-looking fella added. He was actually carrying the map of SquareCity, "It's our first time in the city. By the way, sorry about us barging into the building without a proper invite. Apparently, _some_ of us don't know the meaning of knocking on the door first." He glared at his three friends who grinned bashfully.

"Oh, no prob!" Ven said, "Apparently, some of _us_ residents forgot to lock the door!" he then mumbled, "...Thunder, when will you learn?" he then noticed all eyes were on him, "Sorry. Talking to myself. So, where're you trying to go?"

"Someplace called Mt. Crystallis...?" the second guy said.

"We got a gig for that Winter Fantasy Finals going on there." the first guy pointed out.

"It's gonna be a blast!" the third guy exclaimed, "You should come."

"Sweet, but I can't. I got my own problem to deal with." Ven said, "But I can point you to the right direction: once you leave this building, turn down to Chocobo Avenue, three blocks from here. Go straight and turn right after three more blocks to Main Street. You'll catch the skyferry there and it'll take you straight to Mt. Crystallis after 5 stops. Remember. 5 stops! Any more stops and it might take you to Mt. Palamecia. You do NOT wanna go there."

"Got it!" the four guys answered together.

"By the way, I'm Kendall. And these are my buds James, Carlos and Logan." Kendall introduced the group, "If you need anything at all, just holler."

"Great!" Ven grinned, "I'm Ventus! People call me Ven for short!"

"Well then Ven. It was very nice to meet you!" Logan said.

"Thank you very much for the directions!" James added.

"And good luck with your situation!" Carlos finished.

"Same here! Happy to help! Thanks!" Ven said.

And off the guys went. But then Ven's grin vanished as he was thinking, "...I'll try to rely on four popstars to disguise themselves as Santa Claus and his reindeers! That won't fool the twins! Ughh... Why did I make this stupid bet?"

**xXx**

Fifteen minutes before the main event felt like forever back at Mt. Crystallis, after Sora used his Stopgra Time Magic on the whole place to give himself and Kairi some time to practice on the ice.

Kairi nudged Sora near the ice rink. As soon as he made contact with the ice, he freaked out and left. Kairi gave him another chance and nudged him near the ice rink. This time, she didn't let go of it until they both entered the rink. She finally let him go and after almost losing his balance a few times, Sora ultimately fell flat on his face. Kairi, once again, gave him another chance. After few more nudging, Sora was now getting comfortable on the ice but when he heard a crack from nearby, he freaked out and ran onto Kairi. Both kids fell on their butts. The crack they heard from nearby was only a tree which was being sawed off by Snow. Snow glanced over at the kids, and he grinned before taking off with the tree. Sora and Kairi looked at each other, puzzled.

After few more slip-ups, butt-fallings and whatnot, Sora finally stood on the ice the longest and was able to skate. The two kids together skated on the ice and moved in rhythm to the music '_What Christmas means to Me' by Hansen, _which was playing in the background this whole time. Kairi, feeling sure to win the competition, jumped of joy and ran to hug Sora. Sora hugged back, all fluttered. Kairi tried to let go but Sora was still gripping on her tightly.

"SORA!"

He quickly let go, "Sorry…" he grinned, scratching his head.

Finally the competition resumed on the ice rink; the cheering crowd got twice its size than before, all anticipating the skating match-up of the year.

"And welcome back to our Annual Winter Fantasy Skating Competition!" the co-host Tyrell cheered, "We're down to our awesome pairs of skaters ready to whisk us away!"

"Literally!" Matthew joked.

"And by popular votes, you will vote for your champion, and their chances at winning gifts and unlimited ice cream!"

Aqua was at the avenue section of Mt. Crystallis, not far from the Winter Fantasy ice rink, when she ran into Terra. "Terra?" she exclaimed.

Terra was all covered in mistletoes twig; his hair all caught up in their branches and messed up. His face was the hilarious one as it was all covered in lip marks.

"Where… is… Snow…?" he breathed hoarsely as he tried to speak.

"You're all covered in mistletoe! What happened?"

"That mop head Snow did this! Apparently he found some mistletoe tree nearby and did THIS!" Terra suddenly felt uncomfortable around Aqua, "…why are you staring at me like that?"

"What? Oh!" she quickly snapped out of it, wiping a drool off her lip, "N-Nothing. It's just that…" her eyes stared again, "…you're all covered in mistletoe…"

Aqua…" Terra started backing away, "Stay away from me, man! I'm warning you!"

Aqua approached Terra, still drooling and not listening anymore. Terra turned around to flee but then he saw a huge crowd of girls facing him and giggling.

"MISTLETOE!" they squealed.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

The crowd of girls jumped on Terra and started fighting for their rights.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY MAN!" Aqua pulled out her Keyblade and jumped on the girls.

Back at the Winter Fantasy competition,

Sora and Kairi were both elegantly dressed. Sora wore a shiny white puffy shirt and ivory pants. His hair was well-combed from the front. Kairi was in an ivory skating dress with a white-ruffled skirt reaching her knees. Her white elegant gloves reached her elbows. Kairi's hair was styled in a messy bun. Standing outside the rink were Naminé, Zack, Thunder, and Riku. Riku was back in his normal clothing, in addition to the crutches he was standing on. The four friends were mesmerized by Kairi and Sora's beauty, especially Kairi's.

"Wow, Kairi! You look…stunning," Riku complimented.

"Riku! You're back!" Kairi was happy to see her friend again. But Sora was not all enthusiastic, "But how…"

"Doctor put a Cura Spell on me." Riku explained, "All that's left for me to heal is my leg."

"Oh." Kairi suddenly blushed. Sora frowned. Riku went on, still mesmerized by Kairi's beauty, "I mean…you got fashion! You're sure to win this! You…are…fabulous!"

"Gee, thanks." Kairi giggled, blushing.

"You are…" Riku briefly paused. He just couldn't stop staring, "Gosh! I don't know what to say—!"

"Then don't!" Sora interrupted.

"Sora? What's wrong with you?" Naminé asked, "Riku was just being polite. Kairi IS beautiful."

Zack and Thunder agreed, randomly saying, "Totally." or "No kidding."

"So what if she is?" Sora snapped before facing Riku again, "You don't have to woo her."

Everyone got taken by surprise to Sora's rudeness. Kairi bumped his shoulder, "Sora!" she snapped, "Be nice! He's just being supportive."

"It's okay, Kairi." Riku said before approaching Sora, unsteadily on his crutches, "Now Keyblade boy," he began, "from your tone of voice, it seems as if you were so jealous of my hanging out with Kairi lately that you were planning to see me fall and out of this competition. So you devised this sneaky plan, which turned out so successful by the way, to get me into this mess, hence the crutches, so that you can swoop in here and take my place. Denyin'?"

"Well then maybe I did all that! Happy?"

Everyone gasped in horror to Sora's words. Sora quickly realized what he had said and put his hands on his lips. Kairi glared at her best friend cruelly. Riku did not say anything.

"Oh no you di' n't!" Zack whimpered in sing-song like.

Thunder let out a quick laugh then said cockily, "Yeah, he did."

Sora realized what he just said. He looked around at all disappointed eyes on him, before facing the one pair of eyes he hoped he did not see once his secret got blown: Kairi's. She was in the verge of being angry.

"Sora." She began coolly, "Did you actually do this to Riku?" she pointed at Riku's crutches and sprained ankle.

Sora was mute for a second. Kairi asked again, voice raised, "SORA?"

There was this awkward silence again. Sora grinned nervously, "Well…"

Kairi's jaws dropped.

"Oooh. Here comes the Wrath of Kairi." Thunder joked and Zack and Riku choked back laughter; Naminé almost laughed too but then she angrily elbowed Thunder in the chest to show that it wasn't funny.

"Peppers Puffs Ice Cream for everybody?" Lea rejoined the gang, offering his ice creams on small sticks. Kairi angrily grabbed an ice cream and went into the ice rink as Matthew and Tyrell announced their names, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE GOT OURSELVES A NEW REPLACEMENT DUO! GIVE IT UP FOR KAIRI AND HER NEW PARTNER SORA!"

"Kairi!" Sora tried calling out to her, but she was already far ahead. He angrily faced Riku, "See what you did!"

"Me?" Riku said, "You're the one who sabotaged the competition. Helloooo?" He pointed at himself in crutches.

"What's going on?" Lea asked, unaware of what has been happening.

The crowd still stared at Kairi, anxiously awaiting Sora to enter the rink. Sora stared back at Kairi, then at the ice rink. His fear of the ice came back anew.

"UH-OH! LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE NEED A LITTLE PUSH." Tyrell grinned.

"Tyrell, don't!" Matthew warned, but it was too late. Tyrell cast his Slap Psynergy on Sora. A huge hand appeared behind Sora and slapped him hard onto the ice rink. The crowd laughed at that comedic display.

"HEEYY!" Sora angrily shook his hand at Tyrell then faced Kairi, who was staring back at him with a mean look on her face. He grinned nervously. "Oh… heey…!"

The crowd cheering intensified as Kairi approached Sora, and instead of helping him up slowly on the ice, grabbed his hand and forced him up. Sora quickly lost control and fell on Kairi's shoulder. Kairi pushed him up, "This is no time to be sleeping! Just win this thing, you cheatin'—!"

The music suddenly played. '_Beautiful Christmas'_ by Big Time Rush. A live performance!

James - _Put down video games, pick up some candy canes, and hang your wreath on your door._

Kendall – _Hey! Give back to those in need; bring peace and harmony, cuz that's what Christmas is for._

Kairi twirled Sora in place before joining hands with him. Sora appeared dizzy and freaked out.

"Oh my gosh, Kairi! Where did you learn such vulgar word? That's hurtful what you said to me!" Sora exclaimed.

"Really? Well did you ever thought about how hurtful you would've damaged Riku's physical and emotional talent before you tripped him?" Kairi angrily said.

The duo danced around on the ice, with Kairi leading Sora in an almost speedy and violent manner.

Logan – _And this Christmas is Christmas, we'll celebrate a wonderful year!_

Carlos – _Ohh this Christmas is Christmas, we'll decorate the halls with love and cheer!_

Kairi twirled Sora in place as the music kept going, then tripped him and quickly grabbed his feet. Sora screamed in panic.

"HEY!" Sora yelped, "In my defense, I didn't trip him! He slipped!"

Sora then twirled Kairi in place. Kairi bowed toward the icy ground, her angry eyes still fixing on Sora, "No, YOU didn't trip him. A CHOCOBO DID!"

"So it's the Chocobo's fault! NOT MINE!"

Kairi swooped behind Sora and the duo skated back and forth in rhythm. Kairi had her arms around Sora's neck, chocking him, "But it was the Chocobo who got that ice cream from you, Mr. First Customer!"

Sora gasped, "HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?"

"You didn't think I'd noticed you talking to Lea earlier? Or should I say scheming?"

Sora freaked out.

"Ohh! Here's an idea!" Kairi yelled, "How about I shove that deathly ice cream down your throat and see how betrayal really FEELS!"

"NOOOOO!"

Big Time Rush – _We can make a beautiful Christmas!_

Kairi shoved the ice cream down Sora's throat. The whole crowd got on their feet as Kairi released Sora and skated off the stage. Sora who was skating solo, freaked out all over the ice rink, the ice cream melting in his tongue. "HOT ICE CREAM! HOT ICE CREAM! HAAWT!"

He spewed the ice cream from great distance. The ice cream went straight into Tyrell's face.

"AAHHWW!" Tyrell screamed, "I'M BLIIIND!"

Matthew tried to calm Tyrell down but the two _Golden Sun_ heroes were panicking. The crowd, instead of watching a performance, felt like watching a comedy and they were laughing at it. Among the laughing audience were Stella and the gang, with the still gloomy Noctis. The guys were laughing uproariously.

"OHH MY GOSH! Did you see that guy?" Tidus howled in laughter, "He was like I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND OF ICE CREAM!"

The guys laughed so hard, it became contagious to Noctis. Noctis formed a smirk, then quickly started giggling.

"Hey, you're laughing!" Stella exclaimed, "It's a Christmas Miracle!"

"Ha! Ha… I guess… Ha! Ha!" Noctis finally let out a wholehearted laugh and everyone laughed along.

"Girl, what happened? You just forfeited!" Thunder asked Kairi who rudely ignored him and her friends and passed right by. She was gone before they knew it. The friends continued to passively lick the ice cream Lea has provided them.

"Mmm… good ice cream." Riku complimented.

"Is it?" Lea smiled, "It's my all-time creations: Pepper Puffs ice cream." He revealed, "I just served the whole crowd! Even Big Time Rush!"

_Speeww!_ Thunder, Zack, and Naminé spewed the ice cream on the ground. "WHAAAT?" they screamed.

Thunder slapped the ice cream from Riku's hand. Riku looked surprised. Lea looked offended.

"There you are; you attempted murderer!" Isa finally cornered Lea.

"HEY!" Lea got more offended. He then faced everyone, "What's with all of you? I worked so hard on these!"

"Dude, you worked hard in putting too much of THAT FLAMING PEPPERS on every ice cream in the world!" Zack showed Lea the bottle.

"What?" Lea took the bottle and examined it. "Dude! Why would I do that? I didn't put too much Flaming Peppers on every ice cream in the world! Listen!"

The heroes listened. Instead of hearing agonizing screams and throbbing pains, they heard collective lickings and moans of pleasure. The crowd loved the ice cream! Even Big Time Rush!

Riku, Zack, Naminé, Thunder and Isa all turned to face Lea again, "But… how?" Naminé mumbled.

"But what were those cups of red substances you put on those ice creams?" Zack asked.

"My secret weapon: Jelly toppings!" Lea showed his cherry topping bottle to the gang. The bottle was very similar to the flaming peppers one, but it was squeezable and there was no skull-and-crossbones picture on it; just the picture of a winking Lea holding on a bowlful of jelly.

"But… what was the flaming peppers for?" Isa asked.

"It was there for a little kick on the ice cream." Lea explained, "Just one teensy drop, and it's a flavor spectacular." Lea laughed, "Seriously guys, you think I was out to kill people? No, I'm out to betray them. Come on, get real." He walked away, leaving everyone speechless.

Sora was all alone on the ice rink. He felt nothing. No swelling up. No flames in his mouth. Nothing. Even better the ice cream didn't kill him. He looked around. The crowd stared back at him. The music ended.

Matthew finally wiped the ice cream off Tyrell's face and laughed at his traumatized friend, "Tyrell, it's just an ice cream. Not a bomb. Sheesh."

Tyrell grumbled. The two hosts then noticed the silence in the crowd and the rink; then looked at each other.

"…Uhh, what happened?" Matthew muttered.

A Moogle flew over to the two hosts and whispered to their ears.

"Oh! Well, that was unexpected…" Tyrell muttered.

"With Kairi out of the competition, it looks like this team is disqualified!" Matthew said, "Sorry for the whole distraction there folks!"

"And so we have a winner! Our still-reigning Champion: Balthier and Fran, the Skypirates of Ice."

A roar of applaud sounded from the crowd. Balthier and Fran entered the rink to greet their fans. Balthier pushed Sora out of the way to get some camera action, "Sorry kids. Better luck next time." he gloated.

"There's always next year… if you're still here of course." Fran gloated also and the duo walked away.

**xXx Next Chapter xXx**


	5. SquareEnix Adventures on Christmas Day 3

**Disclaimer: All the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series belong to Square-Enix****_._**

* * *

**Square-Enix X'Mas Collections**

* * *

Montblanc was sitting by the crisping fireplace inside a warm cottage in the middle of a snowy storm. His hands were warmed, holding on to his cup of cocoa with Crystal-shaped marshmallows. A large worn out book was on his tiny lap.

He raised his head up, then, broke the fourth wall.

_Hmm… Oh, hello readers! Glad you could make it. _(Looks out the window) _It's really coming down out there huh? (_breaks fourth wall again_) Well… nothing beats a relaxing Christmas eve like sipping on a cup of cocoa, sitting by the fireplace inside your warm home in the middle of a snowstorm with a Christmas story to share, Kupo._

_Teehee. See what I did there?_

_Well, actually, I'd like to share three Christmas stories with you. I gotta warn ya, they are long. But they're not boring but very interesting as they are full of comedy, mysteries, adventure and let's not forget some Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts magic._

_So… are you comfortable, Kupo?_

_…_

_Good. Then let's get started._


	6. SquareEnix Noël à Paris 1

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
****Noël à Paris**  
part 1 of 4

* * *

Lightning looked ravishing in her silver and gold Valkyrie-like suit of armor, tight-high silver armor boots and a long sash made of white feathers hovering over her left leg. She stepped into the ballroom, and all that were there turned to her attention, mesmerized by her stunning beauty. The Blue Danube Waltz filled the classy atmosphere.

She quietly walked past the ballroom crowd, her heels being the only sound effect besides the music. She was getting closer and closer to the man, or rather a dark-skinned elf, waiting across and patiently standing in the ballroom. The man was rather tall, sleek skin of fancy honey, hair well trim and beard combed back, just as smooth and as white as snow. He wore a blazing ebony mage cloak with both plunging neckline and wrists fabric made of rabbit wool. He looked rather enchanting.

The elven extended his hand toward Lightning with a smile across his lip. Lightning joined hands and immediately the duo were chest-to-chest, gracefully sweeping across the glinting marble floor under the luminous chandelier. The crowd turned their attention away from the dancing duet and they too went on with the flow of the music.

"How do you enjoy your stay at the Chateau, ma Cherie Claire?" the elven man spoke.

"I love it." She replied genuinely. It was as if for the first time she felt something more in him than just an acquaintance. "Care to be my prince… in this chateau?" she asked.

"I would if you allow me." The elven man stepped closer, "to make you my princess."

The elven man's hot breath filled Lightning's mind into a fog. Lightning, no longer thinking straight, gasped sharply, allowing her strawberry-colored lips to close in on the elven man's. Before long, fireworks lit up in their bodies as they both shared a long soft passionate…!

**~4 weeks before…~**

Lightning's eyes shot open, her body pulled out of bed and sat in a zombifying fashion. Her brow furrowed menacingly and a low growl boiled in her throat. She had that bloody dream again. Who could possibly be that guy?

"Never hit a person. Never hit a person." She muttered with her eyes closed, "Damn it, if I ever find that person trying to captivate my heart I swear I will make his fancy life a trashy—!"

"Hi Lightning!"

Lightning startled and swung a fist across Snow's jaws. Snow landed hard on his back, the French toast, the orange juice, scrambled eggs and bits of smoked sausages flew across her bed room, staining her upper walls, bedspread and nightstand. Lightning watched the hot chocolate with whipped cream land hard on Snow's crotch. Snow let out a ear-piercing shrill and ran across the room in tears.

"Please tell me that this Bed and Breakfast thing is NOT for me." Lightning asked with an embarrassed sigh and a sweatdrop on the side of her face.

Snow grabbed a towel from Lightning's bathroom and quickly scrubbed off the dark-brown stain of his dark-green cargo pants, "What do you think?" he barked at her, "It was your sister's idea! Aw man!" he turned his attention back to the stain, "Look what you did to my poor beautiful pants."

"Who cares about your pants?" Lightning grumbled under her breath, trying her best not to raise her voice, "Just look at my room!"

Serah peeked into Lightning's room, "Hi, Light—! Oh…" she cut herself short at the disastrous sight of her sister's bed, sheets and walls. She slowly stepped in, "What… happened here…?"

"Uhh… Lightning struck again?" Snow crudely joked.

"You should always understand, Snow, that I don't take surprises that lightly." Lightning said.

"Yeah she never does." Serah repeated to Snow.

"I know that." Snow removed some toast and eggs off himself and proceeded to pick up the scattered food. Serah approached Lightning, tiptoeing around the bits and pieces of sausages and dust bunnies combined. She had a broad smile on her face, "Oh my gosh, Lightning. Can you believe that in just 3 weeks, we get to go together on our first Christmas vacation?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure…" Lightning slipped out of bed and proceeded to pull her stained sheets off her mattress, "You mentioned that two, three, sixty times already. You and Snow. Your first Christmas vacation as a couple."

Snow straightened up with a plate and cup on hand, "Lightning, what are you talking about?" He asked with a puzzled puckered look, "we're talking about _our _first Christmas vacation. Not as a couple. As a family!"

Serah laughed, "Yeah!" she wrapped her slender arm around Snow's bulky shape, "And everyone here at Edenhall is coming too! Sora, Naminé, Neku, Bartz, Zidane, Prishe, Cloud, Noel… even you!"

Lightning froze for a second, sheets and bedspread around her arms, "Okay. I never agreed to this." Lightning passed by them to dump the sheets and bedspread in a nearby hamper.

"Sure you did!" Snow replied, "We talked about it before Summer started, then again in Fall, then on Halloween and finally Thanksgiving. And you were all…" Snow then mimicked Lightning, "_'Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Okay, that's cool_."

Lightning paused, suddenly recounting these days. "Okay next time you have a plan that involves me traveling with you, make sure I'm not watching the War Channel."

"I don't like the War Channel." Serah shook her head in disgust, "Too much killing."

"Oh come on Lightning!" Snow said, "Don't tell me you're gonna pass up to a great opportunity like going to Paris for Christmas! It's where my Grandpappy is!"

Lightning with her arms crossed stifled at that name. Snow's face tightened, "Yeah, I said 'Grandpappy'. What's wrong with that?"

Lightning relaxed her face, "Sorry." She muttered.

"But really!" Snow went on, "My great-grandfather is awesome. He makes the best English Toffee Cookies. They're to die for. One time he fed it to one of his chickens and it died! Literally!"

"Aren't chocolate or anything sweet poisonous to chickens?" Serah asked.

There was an awkward pause.

"Errrr…."

"Okay listen." Lightning walked past them again to her walk-in closet, "I appreciate the offer," she paused, "but no means no. There's no way that I'm spending Christmas vacation in Paris with you two and a whole bunch of looney birds from this residence." She shook her head, "Not gonna happen."

xXx

_Thank you for choosing Square Air, for your safety this holiday season, please do mind buckling your seatbelts for this is gonna be a bumpy ride._

Lightning sat on her assigned seats on board the _Square Air_ flight 13B. And of course she wasn't the only one on board the plane. Snow and Serah sat next to her. And next to Serah was Mog. No one sat next to Snow yet. In front were Shantotto and Prishe. Sitting in the back and around the group were Bartz and Zidane, Vaan and Penelo, Tidus and Yuna, Cloud, Tifa and Aerith, Vanille, and a lonely Kain, who was not on his seat but standing perched between two seats, blocking some poor folks' view with his butt. Naminé was there too, hard at work on her latest masterpiece.

"I'm so glad you could come with us, Lightning!" Prishe said cheerfully to Lightning, "I mean, Christmas in Paris? Who would want to miss that?"

Lightning glared at Prishe, giving the obvious answer. Prishe went on anyway, "But we're gonna have so much fun in Paris!" she turned to Shantotto, "Right teach?"

"I _am_ … meditating." Shantotto growled under her cute little tone.

Tidus, with a little booklet on hand, turned to Bartz, Zidane, Vaan, Penelo and Yuna, "Check this out. I've learned how to say '_I want a piece of biscotti.' _In french. Wanna hear?"

He flipped through the tiny booklet, stopped at a page and cleared his throat, "Ahem." His tiny audience was on the edge of their seats.

« _J'ai envi d'allé pisser. » **I want to go pee**_

The smiles across his tiny audience faded into a blanked state of shock. Tidus closed his booklet, "Huh? What do you think?"

They all looked at each other.

"I think that it's best for you _not _to speak." Penelo said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Oh don't be party poopers all of you." Kain interrupted, "Let the man learn a new language." He glanced back at Tidus, "He needs all the support he can get from the French."

Tidus smiled broadly.

"Or all the tomatoes in the face." Vaan whispered.

"Hrm-Hrmm…" Zidane nodded with a French sound, "_Oui. Oui_."

The duo chortled, "Get it? _Oui-Oui_?" Zidane had tears filling up his eyes.

"Hey, thanks Kain!" Tidus shouted out with a broad smile, "I appreciate all the support! Now…" he turned back to his tiny booklet, "To learn more words."

Cloud turned to Kain "Kain, don't you think Tidus deserve to know the mistakes he's _actually_ saying?"

"I don't think it's gonna be right for him to tell to a French chef at a restaurant that he wants to eat…" Aerith paused uncomfortably, "…or drink pee."

"He'll learn on his own." Kain interjected, "Trust me."

"Oooh…" Tifa glowered, "Kain's looking for trouble. Don't forget, Santa Claus is watching you."

"Feh."

Vanille noticed the empty seat next to Snow, "Uh-oh. Looks like Noel is not gonna make it."

"We're still missing a bunch of people too." Prishe pointed out.

"What?" Serah noticed the empty seat and turned skeptic, "I thought Noel was here!" she turned to her husband, "Hey, Snow!" she exclaimed, "I thought I told you to wake Noel up!"

"I did." Snow replied. He paused for a second then a cute smile appeared on his lips, "…but he looked so peaceful like a baby. I took pictures, see?" he showed Serah the pictures of sleeping (and drooling) Noel on his smartphone. Lightning chortled. But Serah didn't find that amusing.

"So I turned off his alarm, disabled the snooze button, put the phone on Silence and pulled down the shades." Snow revealed, "'cause trust me honey, a man gotta get some sleep right?"

"Are you kidding me?" the surprised Serah exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? Noel is one of my closest friends." She searched frantically through her pockets, "I hope the plane's not gonna depart on him. Hope he's not gonna be late."

xXx

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Lea and Isa were with Noel, running across the SquareCity Int'l Airport lounge populated with passengers, both young and old.

"COME ON! COME ON!" Sora exclaimed, "We gotta get to that plane before it leaves in ONE HOUR!"

"We're never gonna make it!" Noel complained, "Damn that Snow!"

Riku, Lea, and Isa were tied up in ropes around his chest and shoulders like horses at a snail-like pace, trying their best to pull a massive four-wheel mechanical chariot behind them. Weighing at 30 pound and running at 15mph max. Sora was sitting on top of it.

"We don't have one hour, Sora!" Riku barked. "More like one minute!"

"WHAT?" Sora hissed; his face blanched. "THEN WE GOTTA HURRY UP! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY!" Sora pointed his Keyblade forward and the Keyblade yanked his arm forward as if pulling him faster. The chariot suddenly moved at lightning speed. The guys screamed in panic as if inside a speeding racecar, "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

"Too… much… SPEEEEEEED!"

The chariot broke through the boarding plane tunnel and into the flight 13B they were. A huge explosion startled everyone on board and Riku, Lea, Isa, and Noel flew into their seats. Sora flew headlong to a window and went splat.

"Ohhh…" all the witnesses cringed in pain. Sora slowly slipped to the ground, unconscious and groggy.

"HA! HA! HA! HA!" Lea laughed out loud, tears filling up his eyes, "Now that is hilarious!"

Isa elbowed him to shut up.

"_Bon appetit_…. I mean, _bon arêtes, mes amis_." Good fish bones, my friend

Riku, Lea and Isa glared at Tidus. Tidus smiled, "Huh?"

"So, Noel. My friend." Snow smiled at Noel, "You enjoyed your sleep? And your flight?"

Vanille and Serah stifled. Serah quickly held back her laughter. Lightning simply smiled. Noel, now sitting next to Snow glared at the tall man besides him,

"Oh I'm gonna—!" Noel tackled Snow to the ground and started pounding hard on him. Snow screamed and everyone jumped in, trying to break the fuming Noel off Snow. "Noel! Snow! Stop this madness!" Serah screamed, "Lightning! Do something!"

"They're gonna kill each other." Vanille squealed. Prishe pumped her fists in the air chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Stewarts and security officers came to the scene as well, also trying to break Noel and Snow off each other. Lightning briefly watched before looking away from the violent tumble and ignoring her sister's plea.

"This is gonna be a looong flight."

xxx

Ventus impatiently paced across the waiting area of the Aéroport Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Terra, Aqua, Neku, and Kairi were with him, sitting patiently by the waiting area.

"Okay, this is just ridiculous." Ven exhaled, "They should be here. Arriving. At this very spot! One… hour… ago. And they're not here!"

"Calm down Ven." Terra said, "Maybe there's been a delay."

"Or maybe something's wrong with the plane." Kairi said uneasily.

"…maybe they caught an armed person." Neku added,

"Like Laguna." Aqua guessed and the gang laughed, reminiscent of that particular incident, "Oh, Laguna." Terra wiped a tear off his eyes, "He never ceased to surprise us."

"No chiz." Neku said, "He's weird."

"That's not funny guys!" Ven exclaimed, "What if of all of these assumptions you've said, one actually came true?"

Ding! A French voice spoke on the speakers.

_« Maintenant le vol 13B débarqueras de ses passagers. Merci d'avoir choisir SquareAir. »_

"Wait! What did she say?" Ven said frantically.

_Now disembarking passengers of Flight 13B. Thank you for choosing SquareAir._

"That." Terra said.

All heads turned to the gateway tunnel nearby and all watched the passengers leaving. Some left one by one. Some left in group. It took less than a minute for the gang to spot Naminé in the group. "Naminé!" Kairi shouted out for her friend.

Naminé whizzed her head to Kairi's voice and watched the group approaching her.

"Hi, every—!"

"Where were you?" Ven exclaimed.

"Oh, Ven. Yeah. Long story short." Naminé began, "Snow and Noel had a fight on the plane, so there was a short delay but everything's fi—!"

"Did you get my text?" Ven interrupted her, waving his cellphone in her face.

"Uhh… y-yeah. I guess." Naminé pulled out of her duffel bag a box of Double Crunch ice cream. The picture showed the ice cream topped with caramel filling around the ice's cream Mickey-shaped head. Of course it looked kinda soaked as if it melted. Ven snatched it from her hands, ripped open the box and glared at its melted content with a waterfall of saliva. "Ohhhh…." He whimpered, "Double Crunch Plus Ice Cream. With Toffee and Caramel flavor."

He creepily moved closer to the ice cream and with his big jaws ran across the ice cream like a bulldozer.

"A mixed ice cream so full of fruit, you might just go a _little _bananas." Terra laughed, observing Ven.

"But so full of shit." Neku muttered.

"I gotta say Ven… your concern for the safety of everyone and myself on that plane is quite touching." Naminé said.

"Naminé. This is Neku Sakuraba. He's a good friend of Sora and Riku from Tokyo, Japan!" Kairi introduced, "Neku, this is my friend Naminé."

Naminé and Neku greeted each other. "How do you do?" he said. "Pleased to meet you." She said.

"So, Noel and Snow fought on the plane?" Aqua asked, "Why?"

"Apparently," Naminé began, "Snow was supposed to wake up everybody so that we'll all be ready to catch the plane. But…"

"He didn't wake up Noel on purpose." Terra finished that sentence. "Yeah." Naminé affirmed.

"Next time when I'm on Wake-Up Duty buddy, you gotta be wishing you never went to sleep!" Noel's irritated voice filled the airport. All heads across the airport turned to Snow and Noel being dragged out of the gate by security officers. They were glaring at each other. The rest of the SquareCity cast followed behind.

"Oh yeah? Well, next time I'm on Wake-Up Duty buddy, I'm gonna make you wish you were DEAD!"

"Hey, no PDH in the airport!" Tidus exclaimed.

"PDH?" Bartz and Zidane repeated.

"Public display of Hate?"

The officers dropped Noel and Snow to the ground and pointed their menacing fingers at them.

_« La prochaine fois sera la malchance pour vous deux ! __Compris ? »_

Snow and Noel looked confused. The two officers walked away. They turned to Tidus. "Hey, what did he say?" Snow asked.

Tidus flipped through his tiny booklet, "Er… okay… let's see, uhh… Oh! It looks like they're saying that they have faith, that you will have bad luck?"

"They're just giving them a warning." Lightning sounded a big annoyed, "Sheesh, Tidus. Don't butcher the language."

"Lightning, I didn't know you spoke French!" said the surprised Serah.

"No I don't." Lightning replied, "Only four years of classes. No big deal."

"Oh, yeah! No big deal." Tidus scoffed, "Sure, be Mrs. Know-it-all."

The entire Square City cast regrouped and were heading down the airport's lobby when two goofy yet sophisticated faces popped in front of Noel. Noel jumped, "Whoa!"

« _Oh mon dieu! C'est vous!_ » the first face—a gentlemen with gray English mustache—bawled in French. He had gray balding hair, sporting an eyeglass to the right side and sporting a fancy three-piece suit matching his gray facials.

_« Chevalier Noel ! Chevalier Noel ! C'est vraiment vous? » _The second face was a woman who looked like she's in her high social statues. She too spoke French, and she had blond bonnet-style hair, a tight commanding face covered in wrinkles, thin pointy glasses and sported a red one piece dress with tight skirt and high heels shoes.

"Err… excuse me…?"

_« Excusez-moi ! Mais qu'es que vous faites alors ? » _The gentleman pulled Noel away from the crowd. The woman shoved him from behind._ « Venez-la ! On vous a cherché jusqu'au point que nous avons essayé de vous oublier ! » _She said, still mumbling in French, it had the gang all oh-so-confused.

"Wait, excuse me?" Serah pulled Noel from the two French-speaking strangers and glared at him, "What do you think you're doing? He's our friend! We need him!"

"Yeah, did he do something wrong?" Snow asked.

The two strangers looked at each other then turn back to the SquareCity party.

"Ugh… Anglophones!" they insulted the group, trying to sound English. The gang's jaws dropped.

«_ Il nous dégoûte ces gens. Nous dégoûte vraiment ! »_the woman hissed at them, giving the gang a sense that the strangers weren't exactly welcoming. _« Avec leur violences. Violence sans-cesse! »_

"Why is she talking about violence?" Tidus wondered.

"I'm scared…" Sora muttered.

But that didn't stop the two strangers from babbling some more French. _« Je n'peux pas le croire que vous allez prend votre attention a ces genre de personnes. » _the woman exclaimed, before turning to Noel,_ « Mais vous êtes le Chevalier Noel. __Vous avez le droit. » _she shoved Noel off to the limo. The gentleman followed,_« Mais faite vîtes alors ! On ne peut pas attendre ! »_

" Hey! Wait!" Noel exclaimed, "Wait!" Noel froze before the limo to face the two strangers, "What are you doing? Stop! Stop!" he gestured, "Stop!"

_« Désolé, mais on ne peut pas s' arrêté ! » _the gentleman muttered before shoving Noel into the limo. "KYAAA!" Noel screamed.

The gentlemen shut the limo's door and she and the woman ran to the front of the limo and got in also. The cast watched the limo dash away into the busy rural Paris streets.

"Err… what just happened?" Vanille wondered.

"Did those finely dressed gentlemen just kidnapped Noel?" Kairi asked.

"It's NOT Noel!" spoke yet another finely dressed gentleman from behind with an English accent. The gang jumped back startled.

"You're speaking to the greatest celebrity of all Europe and around the world during the holiday season, Chevalier Noel."

"Huh?"

"Chevalier Noel is a legend among all international popstars. Makes the best pop and R&B music of our European times. His greatest hits are during the Christmastime." He looked away and spoke in French, « _Il est tellement populaire que même Justin Bieber na rien fait._ »

"What did he say?"

"OOH! OOH! Let me translate!" Tidus flipped through his small booklet.

"He's so popular not even Justin Bieber can top him on the charts." The gentleman translated.

Tidus disappointedly closed his tiny book. "HEEEY! I was this close to translate!" he turned to his folks, "I got the Justin Bieber part right!"

"What were you gonna say?" Snow asked.

Tidus hesitated, "That uhh… Bieber didn't do it."

"He didn't do what exactly?" Cloud frowned.

"Err…" Tidus hesitated more, "Idunno…"

The gentleman walked away. The gang followed him. All left Tidus behind.

"OH COME ON!" Tidus exclaimed, "I'M STILL LEARNING!"

"You haven't answered our question sir." Lightning asked the gentleman, "Who are you and what do those two Frenchies want from Noel?"

"I see that you're not from around here, so allow me to properly introduce myself." The gentleman said, "Name's Simeon. And my job is to protect people like Chevalier Noel. My two colleagues that you've just seen take off with Chevalier Noel, Mademoiselle Spirouelle and Monsieur Bertram contacted me about Chevalier Noel's sudden disappearance after the _Réveillon_, and we've been ill-fitted about his whereabouts ever since. Now that we've found him…"

He then glared callously at the gang, "…in the hands of bloody poppycocks like you American Western people… he can now resume what he does best. Oh, Monseigneur Travanchet will be so pleased to see him again."

"Bloody poppycocks?" Cloud stifled. The gang stifled along.

"Hey, excuse me! Monsignor what's your face!" Sora stepped in, barking at the gentleman, "Noel is a friend of ours, not your slave!"

The shocked man turned to face Sora, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" Sora barked, "He's a friend of ours."

"Yeah, always been. Always will be." Vanille added.

"You surely must be mistaking him for someone else, because he's been with us at SquareCity for a while now." Serah added.

"And that's where we live." Lightning added, "SquareCity. Not America."

"Oh really?" Simeon glowered at the party, "Was your _friend _with you during the _Réveillon_?"

The gang paused. Tidus started flipping through his translation booklet. After a while, he slowly closed his book and turned to the gentleman, still looking confused, "Err… what's the _Réveillon_."

Simeon simply glared at Tidus.

"I think he means… rebellion." Snow said, and the gang started agreeing with him.

"Yeah… y'know?" Lea said, "since the b-sound is the same as the v-sound?"

"That's Spanish." Isa argued.

"But Spanish sounds French too." Lea added.

The gang started debating on language dialects, completely losing focus on Noel. Simeon ran his hands down his face in shame.

"I am surrounded by language butchers."

**xXx Next Chapter xXx**


	7. SquareEnix Noël à Paris 2

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
****Noël à Paris**  
part 2 of 4

* * *

**-Le Château de Versailles**

Formally an official residence for the kings and sovereigns of France, _Le Chateau de Versailles, _aka the Versailles Palace was now a majestic piece of historical landmark in Europe… and a grand attraction for guests and tourists like bees to a succulent honeycomb especially during the Christmastime. To even describe the splendor of this grand palace and its extensive gardens the size of twenty football fields was beyond words.

Noel watched from inside the limo the green plants and shrubs of the gardens blanketed by heavy European snows, making up a winter green labyrinth. He caught glimpses of the many fountains of the gardens, still pouring out their crisp water under the chilling winter breeze.

The limo arrived at the palace's marble court, and there were a lot of people there: tourists from all over. They all turned away from their sightseeing to watch the limo pulling up close. Noel gulped from inside. Hopefully these tourists didn't come to see him, he thought, as cameras of all shapes and sizes began to point at the limo.

Maybe they're paparazzi!

"Okay… what's going on?" He turned to the two chaperones, "Why are those people gathered around us like that?"

The two French chaperones said nothing.

"All right you two." Noel was miffed now, "you've kept me waiting long enough and I don't wanna wait any longer. What the hell do you want from me and why did you drag me all the way here for?"

_« Haa ! Monsieur le Chevalier Noel. Ca c'est une très bonne question. » _ **_Haa… Sir Chevalier Noel. This is a very good question._** Bertram spoke in his usual French tongue. Noel frowned, still unable to understand him.

_« Bienvenue encore au château de Versailles.» **Welcome back to the Versailles Palace. **_Spirouelle said in her French tongue also, _« C'est étant ici que vous allez prendre vos congés de Noel. » _**_This is where you'll be spending your Christmas vacations._**

_« Jusqu'au jour J. » **Till the D-Day. **_Bertram finished.

It was Noel's turn to speak again, "Oh, so you understand what I'm saying huh?" he muttered, guessing from their unintelligible foreign answers to his question that they must have understood him, "…but seriously, if you can understand what _I'm _saying, why can't you respond to me in plain English?"

A huge head came besides Noel's face, startling him. "I can answer this question for you."

"WUAAAAA!" Noel slipped and fell off his limo seat. The head that surprised him was actually a Moogle. A Moogle with blond hair combed forward and sporting a warm olive-green coat and carrying a staff. The two chaperones laughed at Noel's stumble.

"Owww…" Noel rubbed his head, "Jeez… were you here this whole time? Who are you?"

"I'm Montblanc!" The cheery Moogle went on, "Royal Moogle in service of the Versailles Palace, Kupo! I speak _both_ English andFrench , Kupo! Fluently!

Noel blinked. Montblanc went on, "I also speak Japanese, Spanish, German, Al-Bhed, fal'Cie, Turkish, Russian, Vampire, Mogish, and finally Latin."

Noel sat back, "Uggh…sweet." He uttered, "Can you please tell me what they said?"

The gang got off their limo and waltzed for the front entry. The tourists didn't bother with them anymore.

"They're pretty much welcoming you back to the Versailles Palace and hope you get your long deserving rest until the D-Day, Kupo."

"D-Day? What's the D-Day?"

"Christmas Eve."

"What am I supposed to be doing on Christmas Eve?"

"Same thing you've been doing for the past 25 years. Spreading Christmas miracles all across Europe!"

"Wh—but I don't wanna spread Christmas miracles all across Europe!"

Montblanc paused, "And why not, Kupo?"

"Because for starters, I don't know HOW to make a Christmas miracle!"

Montblanc, Bertram and Spirouelle briefly looked at each other.

"HAA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" they exploded with laughter.

"Wh-Whaaaat?" the offended Noel whined, "It's truuuue!"

"Just get out." Spirouelle exclaimed with a French accent before the gang got out of the limo and shoved Noel out. Noel groaned annoyingly as the gang dragged him to the large hall of the palace. Noel felt the marble walls of the palace closing in on him and the entrance made of fine gold and glass materials ready to swallow him into some looking-glass –type of dark dimension.

But the moment he stepped into the palace, he stood breathless before an endless display of mirrors wedged between arched marble and bonze pillars and walls, all reflecting an endless display of windows, overlooking the massive garden view.

"Whoooaaaa…" he gasped. "What _is _this place?"

"Kupo!" Montblanc said, "This is the Hall of Mirrors, Chevalier Noel!" the Moogle paused to rub his chin in thought, "Seriously, you talk as if you've never been here before."

"I _never have _been here before!" Noel exclaimed, "In case you still are clueless, it's my first time here and I'm not—!"

_« Travanchet ! Travanchet ! Monseigneur Travanchet ! » _

Spirouelle and Bertram exclaimed at the sight of a male Elezen with dark sleek skin of fancy honey, a short light lavender beard and hair combed back and trimmed, just as smooth and as white as snow. He sported a blazing ebony mage cloak with both plunging neckline and wrists fabric made of rabbit wool. His fierce brown eyes fixated on Noel as the two French characters approached him.

_« Nous l'avons finalement trouvez Monseigneur! __FINALEMENT! » **We finally found him Milord! FINALLY! **_ said Bertram, his mustached face glowed with joy and relief.

_« Vous n'savez pas comment on était beaucoup inquiet du Chevalier Noël à ne pas être présent pour la Noël ! » _**_You have no idea how worried we were about our Chevalier Noel not being around for Christmas _**Mademoiselle frantically exclaimed in French. _« Ca allait être très grave ! » **That would have been horrible! **_

Noel leaned over to Montblanc and whispered, "_Now _what are they saying?"

"They're just happy to finally have you. As I am, Kupo." Montblanc replied before facing the Elezen who was before the two French persons and themselves, "Aren't you happy Kupo? That we finally found him, Travanchet?" he called the Elezen by that name. Travanchet. It sounded French. But the man clearly was no French guy.

His pointy ears were quite noticeable to Noel. And his stern eyes which were still fixed on Noel this entire time made the young man twice as nervous. Noel gulped. Silence fell on the group.

A faint smile slowly appeared on the Elezen's lips. "Estatic." He replied before stepping toward Noel, "Welcome back to France, _Monseigneur Chevalier_. I see that you've met my two servants in the palace: Monsieur Bertram and Mademoiselle Spirouelle. You can call her Milady. Her name is hard to say."

He offered Noel a handshake, "Hope you remember me still. Name's Travanchet."

Noel glanced at the hand then back at Travanchet. He then turned to the two French persons who stood by with goofy smiles on their faces and their frantic nods bobbing up and down with impulsive encouragement to shake the man's hands. He quickly turned to Montblanc, who simply smiled back. He turned back to Travanchet and took a deep breath.

"Okay, Travanchet…" he said, "I'm gonna say this once. And I'm gonna say it again… but this time… slooooowly… and with serenity within my voice, okay?"

Pause.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I DOIN' HERE?"

Travanchet moved his hand down. "Why, you're home. Where you…" he cleared his throat, "…belong."

"Nooo." Noel shook his head, "I'm not. I'm clearly the wrong guy you hijacked. I'm supposed to be with my friends celebrating Christmas with their family at Snow's great-grandfather Monsignor Villiers' place. Not…" he paused, staring once again at his thousand reflections in the Hall of Mirrors, "…in a fancy, high-class, too chic bon genre castle like… fit for…" he hesitated, "…kings!"

"Monsignor Villiers, you say?" Travanchet repeated, catching Noel's attention again, "Why, we do know this fine old lad, _N'est-ce-pas?_" he turned to his French comrades who all nodded in confirmation.

"He lives right next door." Montblanc explained, "…well, not really next door. More like across the gardens, over twenty blocks from here. He bought the Estate of Marie-Antoinette, Kupo."

"Marie-Antoinette?" Noel blinked, "You mean that woman who got her head cut off?"

Travanchet, Montblanc and the two French people nodded. Noel's smile widened, "Cooooool."

"No time to dwell in the past." Travanchet said to Noel, "We've got to get moving. We have 15 more days till Christmas, and Europe is in need of some more Christmas miracles. So let's move!" Travanchet pushed Noel in front, and Montblanc and the two French persons followed him, "And this time we'll make an _actual_ Christmas miracle happen!"

"errr…" Noel tried to speak but Travanchet cut him short, "Servants. See to it that our guest gets proper care. The kind of care that is fit for the king of the Versailles Palace."

Noel shrugged at that statement, "Okay. I can live with that." The gang moved on ahead of the Elezen. Travanchet slowed behind and that stern grim look he had on his face earlier came back anew. This time it was as bitter as before.

" 'Toya." He muttered.

An old witch, sporting an eyeglass to her right eye, suddenly appeared behind Travanchet like a bright sunlight. She stumbled back but quickly reclaimed her balance. She quickly brushed dusts off her purple robe. "Would it kill you to stop calling me by that name? The name is Matoya!" she snapped.

Travanchet turned around to face her, "I don't care what your bloody name is."

The witch peered at him through her eyeglass, "Excuse me?"

"Your fortune was wrong. You told me that things would go very well for me, especially around this time of year. Now I have to take care of this… this _Chevalier_ again!"

"Hey, at least the Chevalier still can keep his royal line intact." Matoya said.

"That's not enough," snapped Travanchet, "I won't let my Christmas go into ruin that easily. I'll make sure that my plan continues flawlessly." He rubbed his beard, "But how? With _Chevalier Noel_ in my presence?"

"Monseigneur Travanchet!"

Travanchet turned to the source of the voice. It was the Englishmen who spoke to the gang at the airport earlier, "Simeon." Travanchet said, "What is it?"

"Monseigneur Travanchet. I have this… utter feeling that the _Chevalier Noel _your fellow servants have retrieved seems to be not what he seems."

Travanchet frowned, looking daft and confused. He turned to Matoya who simply shrugged.

xXx

A luxurious vacation estate designed with fine woods and cement that gave it a unique rustic appearance was quietly snuggled besides shiny ice rinks that used to be pristine lakes and white winter field that used to be beds of meadowlands filled with fragrant shrubs and flowers. This was Marie-Antoinette's Estate, over twenty blocks from the grand palace of Versailles. Some pine trees surrounding the estate were already clad with cerulean and aquamarines ornaments and Christmas lights. The place was truly a winter wonderland.

A limo pulled up before one of the buildings that were part of the Estate: the Queen's Hamlet. And once again they were tourists passing by, taking pictures and such.

"Welcome to Marie-Antoinette's Estate, Kupo!" said the limo driver, a Moogle sporting a Suzaku uniform. "You're gonna love your stay here!"

"Thanks, Mogli." Lighting said to him.

"Please, don't call me that." The Moogle muttered. "Name's Mog."

"Wait," Sora stared at the Hamlet before him, "So we're staying in a house that belongs to a woman who got her head cut off?"

"Is that illegal?" Snow asked the Moogle.

"Or make this house haunted?" Vanille added.

The Moogle couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Ugh, man up you wuss." Lightning who was already out of the limo said to the gang inside, "It's a house, not a mausoleum." She then turned to Snow, "And it's your great-grandfather's home too Snow."

"I know it's my great-grandfather's home, Light!" Snow argued, "I just have forgotten how much of a creep he actually was… and still is."

The gang got off the limo to admire the place like all the tourists.

"Wait…" Riku glanced at them who were minding their businesses, "Who are all of those people?"

"Tourists, Kupo." Mogli said, "Your great-grandfather may have bought the estate, but he still allows tourists to check it out."

"So in a way, he likes to show it off huh?" Terra said.

"Same old Grand-pappy." Snow smiled. All eyes turned to him. His face once again tightened, "Yeah, I said 'Grandpappy'. What's wrong with that?"

"HO! Ho! Ho! Hoooo!"

All heads turned to the jolly old laugh. A man about Snow's size, sporting Snow's FFXIII-2 hairstyle and sporting a large Santa Claus' like beard was coming toward the gang. He sported a heavy red velvet coat, with plunging neckline and white fur around it, ebony boots, white gloves, and had tiny glasses resting on a squishy red nose. All jaws dropped at the sight of that man. His appearance was… all too familiar.

"Santa?" Sora breathed.

"Why, if it ain't my ol' boy, Snowy!" the old man said.

"Grandpappy!" Snow approached him and the duo exchanged fond hugs.

"Long time no see, Grandpappy." Snow said.

"Long time?!" Mr. Villiers laughed, "Why, has it really been that long? Because the last time I saw you, you were all crushin' on sweet old Serah back when you were in high school!"

"GRANDPAPPY!" Snow quickly put his hands on his great-grandfather's mouth, his face turned pink. Mr. Villiers was still laughing through Snow's hands. The gang giggled on cue as well.

"Really?" Serah turned to Snow, surprised at that revelation.

"Grandpappy! This was supposed to be a secret!" Snow exclaimed.

Lightning crossed her arms and glowered at Snow sternly, "Gee, I wonder what other secrets you've been keeping from my sister…" her eyes narrowed, "…and me."

Snow nervously chuckled. "Well…" he quickly changed subjects, "Grandpappy. I'd like you to meet my crew: Bartz, Zidane, Tidus, Yuna, Vanille, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Neku, Naminé, Lea, Isa, Lightning, and my lovely girl, Serah!"

Everyone greeted the jolly old great-grandfather.

"Uhh… Sir Villiers?" Zidane scratched his cheeks, asking nervously, "I thought we were supposed to be in Paris, not Versailles." He pulled out her cellphone and double-checked, "I mean, that's according to my Map App."

"Yeah, did we take a wrong turn or something?" Bartz asked.

"Ho! Ho! Hooo!" Mr. Villiers laughed again.

All eyes stared at each other at that laugh.

"Why of course you're not in Paris!" he said, "Paris is only half an hour away by car! It's not that far! I'll give you a brief tour of the city later this afternoon. You'll enjoy the sightseeing, especially the Christmas shopping at _le Champs Elysées."_

"Oooh! I love shopping!" Kairi exclaimed with glee before turning to her friends, "We should totally go shopping in Paris guys!"

Groans exhaled from the unenthusiastic crowd.

"Anyway…" Mr. Villiers went on, "Wanna check out my beautiful oh-so-famous estate? I also got some of my homemade English Toffee Cookies! Come in! Come in! Ho Ho! Hoooo!"

That laugh got everyone nervous again.

Tidus leaned toward Bartz and Zidane and whispered, "Uhh… is it me guys, or is this chubby Mr. Villiers guy _reaaaaaaally _familiar?"

"Oh come on you guys." Yuna giggled, "He can't possibly be thinking he's _you-know-who_! He's only Snow's great-grandfather."

"Yeah. Great-grandfather." Bartz repeated, "Usually, great versions of fathers are dead before their great versions of their children are born. And this one is still living!"

"This calls for an investigation." Zidane exclaimed.

xXx

The SquareCity cast toured the Estate of Marie-Antoinette to its entirety—crossed over the frozen lake to check out the Temple of Love, the farmhouse, the mill, the dairy place, even a dovecote and even a lighthouse known as the Marlborough Tower (which Snow mistook it as the Marlboro Tower, a tower fit for those deadly Marlboro creatures). They were about twelve cottages across the great estate, and all were adjacent to one another.

They even visited the Temple of Love a little further down on an island with fragrant shrubs and flowers, an octagonal belvedere, with a neighboring grotto and cascade. This is actually where Lightning first lay eyes on something—or rather someone—that made her heart skip a beat. It was none other than Travanchet.

Lightning leaned toward Mr. Villiers and whispered, "Uhh… who's that?"

"Hhhhmm? Oh! That's the lord of the manor! Monseigneur Travanchet. He resides in the _Chateau de Versailles_ down twenty blocks." He laughed again, "Ho! Ho! Hooo! He's a sure fine fella, I'll tell ya that."

Lightning cocked her head on one side, still staring at Travanchet, "…fine indeed…" she muttered. That man was really familiar. Like he came from a dream.

"Uhh… Lightning?" Snow called on Lightning, "Hellooooo?" he moved a hand over to her face, "Earth to Light? Yooohooo!"

"Uhh… Monsieur Villiers?" Serah called him.

"Hhhmmmm? Oh, yes! What is is, Serah my dear?"

"Well…" she played with her fingers nervously, "…I kinda have a question to ask of you. What do you know about the so-called… _Chevalier Noel?"_

That name caught everyone's attention.

"Chevalier Noel, you say?" Mr. Villiers laughed again, "Ho! Ho! Hoooo!"

Noel pulled Serah away from his great-grandfather and to a private conversation, "Serah!" he exclaimed in hushed tone, "You're not supposed to be talking about what happened to Noel. Remember?"

"Snow. We've never agreed to this!" Serah argued in hush tone, "And besides, Noel is my friend and I'm worried about him. We don't know where those French people took him of all places."

"Are you fine young lads talk about the famous _Chevalier Noel_?" spoke Travanchet as he joined the group. All eyes turned to him and all heads nodded in response. He went on, "Why, he's a famous holiday songster and performer of all time. He is famous for causing Christmas magic to happen. One performance of lights and all of Europe gets showered with all kinds of jolly Christmas spirits that'll last to the end of the year!"

"Really?" Sora exclaimed.

"Yes-yes. That is true. But just last year, all Europe didn't get their Christmas miracles because the _Chevalier_ had suddenly vanished. It was as if he had disappeared from the face of the planet. Oh, how_ épouvantable_ it's been."

"So this Chevalier is like Santa Claus?" Sora asked again.

"Ho! Ho! Hooo!" Mr. Villiers laughed again, "Oh… not really. The Chevalier is actually the cornerstone person behind all Christmas magic. Heck he's the one who actually _help _Santa get ready for his usual Christmas Eve night run!"

Everyone looked at each other, stunned. Mr. Villiers was still laughing.

"But we finally have him back for this year!" Travanchet said, "He apparently lives within the Versailles Palace. But if I were you guys, I wouldn't try to disturb him as he is meditating." He quickly changed subjects before Serah, Snow, Lightning and the others all tried to talk to Travanchet, "…and who am I speaking to, Monseigneur Villiers?" he looked at the old man, "I did not know you had company."

"Ohhh… just family and friends." Mr. Villiers introduced his great-grandson and companion, "This is Snow, my great-grandson. And that's Serah, his fiancée; Lightning the future sister-in-law, and all of their friends."

"_Enchanté_." He said, "I would actually love to get to know you more in the future." He turned his attention to Lightning, "That would lovingly sweep me get away from the pomp and stifling excess of the Court."

Lightning battered her eyelashes. But her frown still remained. Travanchet smiled at her, "Perhaps I'd recommend a trip to the Temple of Love down the lake. Tomorrow afternoon?"

She shrugged, "It's fine by me if you want."

"Great. It's a date." He turned to leave but stop to face the gang again, "Oh! And please do visit the Versailles Palace Gardens and the Marble Courts. The Palace interior itself is currently closed from the public for the holidays." He once again turned to Lightning, "…but with few exception." He reached a finger to gently caress her chin, but Lightning slapped it away and walked away.

Travanchet straightened, "Well… I'm looking forward to your visits." He barely bowed his head before turning back.

The SquareCity gang turned to a pink Lightning. They couldn't help but giggle.

"Ooooo-Oooooh! Lightning's in luuuuuuv~!" Tidus teased.

"Shut up." Lightning hissed.

"This is exciting news I must say!" Mr. Villiers exclaimed.

"No it's not." Lightning muttered.

"How about we bake a bowlful of my favorite English Toffee Cookies?" Mr. Villiers proposed.

"No." Lightning sighed.

"We'll dunk it in hot eggnog." Snow proposed also.

"Forget it." Lightning said.

"But you love eggnog!" Serah protested.

"I don't."

xXx

Terra and Vanille entered the guesthouse, each enjoying some of Mr. Villiers' famous English Toffee cookies.

"Mmh-Mmh!" Vanille leapt up and down with excitement, "These cookies are soooo delicious!" she squealed.

"Yeah, no kidding." Terra agreed, "I just can't stop eating them. This is my fifth one so far."

"Really?" Vanille exclaimed, "This is my fifteenth!"

The stunned Terra mouthed 'wow' as Vanille nodded in confirmation, licking her lips covered in toffee. She turned away from Terra and…!

"GAAAAAASP!" she gasped at the sight of a fat Ven, wedged on a Louis XIV chair between the armrests. The table was filled with all kinds of ice creams. Some finished. Some unfinished. But all of them made stained mess everywhere.

"Ven?"

Terra turned to Ven also. His eyes widened.

"unnnh…" Ven groaned.

"What… happened?" Terra muttered.

Ven cocked his head toward Terra, "What happened?" he groaned, glowering with fatigued blue eyes, "Creamsmas happened!"

"Creamsmas?" Vanille and Terra repeated.

"Creamsmas." Lea replied, stepping before the duo and Ven, "Lady and gentleman. Let me rephrase it for you… with a serene song." He pulled out a harmonica and blew on it once. "_Beeee._"

"On the tenth day of Christmas, Naminé gave to him…"

"Ten Frozen Fortunes…" Isa joined in.

"Nine Donald Fizzes…" Bartz joined in.

"Eight Honey Bunnies… " Kairi joined in.

"Seven Goofy Parfaits…" Tidus joined in.

"Six Royalberries…" Yuna joined in.

"Five Golden Rings …" Zidane joined in.

"Wait… FIVE Golden Rings?!" both Vanille and Terra exclaimed.

Ven pulled out five donut-shaped cakes, "And they're cream-filling!" he bit one of them up.

"Four Milky Ways…" Riku added.

"Three Vanilla Glitzs…" Aqua added.

"Two Spark Lemons…" Neku muttered.

"…and One Double Crunch Plus ice cream!" Sora cheerfully finished, before Ven let out a massive burp that almost sent everyone flying backward.

"I'm worried about you Ven." Terra said, "Too much sweet can give you some health problems… and especially around the holidays?"

"Aww… don't worry about it." Ven flipped his hand in dismissal, "It's only part of the twelve days of Creamsmas! Twelve different kind of Ice Creams for 12 days during the holidays! Only two more days left and I'm _totally _done."

"Two more days?" Naminé came into the room, catching all attention, "Ven didn't you read the pamphlet when you ordered the treats? It's _25_ days of Creamsmas, not 12."

All eyes turned on Naminé in shock, "WHAAAAT?!"

"Wh—25 DAYS?!" Ven exclaimed.

"It only ends till Christmas." Naminé smiled, "What, you thought that you'd be done after twelve? Ha! HA! Dream on! …just make room in your stomach, dear. There'll be plenty more treats coming." she walked away. That got the entire gang in the room nervous.

"I uhh…" Aqua hesitated, "I guess we can't go shopping in Paris till Ven feels better."

"GO ON WITHOUT ME!" Ven barked, "Just go enjoy the sightseeing! The city of lights! The city of love! The Eiffel Tower and the Loooouvre…!" he wept pathetically.

All eyes looked at each other. Everyone shrugged before turning back to Ven.

"Okay." Neku smiled, "If that's what you want. Let's go!"

And everyone went for the exit door. Ven stopped crying all of the sudden, frowning and rolling his eyes at Neku's statement.

"We'll bring you souvenirs!" Kairi cheerfully said to Sora, her voice was becoming inaudible as she was already far away from the room. Everyone left except Lea and Isa who were last to head for the door.

"NOT… so… fast, you two!" he barked, stopping them from another step.

Lea and Isa secretly gnashed their teeth and stomping their feet hard on the ground, they hissed, "Damn it!" before turning to Ven with forceful smiles.

"Veeeen!" Lea exclaimed. "What is it you want from you dear, dear friends this season's greetings?"

"And make it quick. 'Cause we want to get away from you."

Lea elbowed Isa. Isa shrugged, "What?"

"Stop being honest!" Lea hissed under his breath.

"Oh, so you want me to lie?!"

"No I want you to—!"

"You know I can hear you guys right?" Ven interrupted what could have been another pointless argument about the two friends and their argumentative conflict on honesty. They turned back to Ven who went on, "But it doesn't matter! What I want is for you to wait on me hands and foot throughout our entire stay here in Europe, OR until I lose weight. I can't do this without your support, y'know?"

"Support huh?" Isa muttered, "Should I bring you a support hammer?"

Lea once again elbowed him. The frustrated Isa shrugged at him again.

xXx

**_Avenue des Champs-Élysées_**

A prestigious avenue filled with cinemas, cafés, dining spaces, and luxury shops crowded by people and horse-chestnuts trees lining up in place toward the _Arc de Triomphe_. That's where Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Aqua, and Vanille were located, with Lightning and Neku as their chaperones, having a light dinner outside _Fouquet's_ restaurant.

"MMHN!" Kairi squealed with her mouth full. "This has got to be the BEST escargots I've ever tasted!" she turned to Sora and Riku, "Don't you boys agree?"

Sora and Riku looked green with their cheeks puffing up.

"I don't think they agree." Vanille replied.

"I don't feel so… g-good…" Sora moaned.

"Ughh… bucket… need… bucket…" Riku groaned.

"Oh, for crying out loud, boys. There's a bathroom inside the building." Lightning pointed, "If you'd be so kind as to not make a scene…!"

Sora and Riku grabbed from a waiter a bucket full of ice with a chilled bottle of champagne on it, tossed the bottle across the street and puked on the bucket together. "UUUEEEEEUUUUUWWWWW!" All the onlookers and the waiter groaned in disgust.

"Made a scene." Neku muttered.

"UUUEEEEEUUUUUWWWWW!"

"Okay that's enough!" Aqua quickly pulled out her Keyblade, made a circle with it and pointed at the puking Sora and Riku. "_Vanishga_!" A light glimmered on Aqua's Keyblade tip and Sora and Riku vanished into thin air. The onlookers sighed with relief and went back to their dining and chatting.

"I'll go check on the guys." Neku got off his chair, "Hopefully, they aren't literally puking from inside some _occupied _stalls. That will make those cranky French _reeeeally _ticked off." He scurried into the building, leaving only the girls and Terra alone.

"So, Lightning." Vanille turned to her friend, hands on her chin with a goofy grin, "What are you gonna wear?" she singsong.

Lightning gave Vanille a weird look, "What am I wearing? This _is_ what I'm wearing."

"No, no." Aqua said, "She's talking about your date with Sir Travanchet."

"What?"

Surprised Terra turned to Lightning, "YOU have a date?"

"No, I don't have a date." Lightning argued. "And if you guys were talking about that gentleman from the Chateau, he's nothing but a snooping womanizer. And he's an Elezen. Not my type."

"Oh, come on Lightning." Vanille whined, "I saw it in your eyes. You were totally checking him out."

"Lightning!"

All heads turned to the familiar voice. It was Travanchet. He just got out of the building when he spotted the group. He approached them. The girls giggled secretly, but Lightning didn't feel intimidated.

"Fancy meeting you here." He greeted everyone on the table. "Ahh, Escargots. Chef Mogusto is the best at making those. Very exquisite. Anyway…" He turned to Lightning and smiled at her. "About our date. At the Temple of Love down by the lake." He paused, "I'm sorry to say but I'd have to postpone it. Got a lot more to do at the Court than I anticipated."

"Tsk. What shame." Lightning said.

"BUT!" Travanchet wasn't' finished, "If you're still interested, I'd take our date to the next level. How about the night before Christmas Eve at the Chateau's ballroom? The Court will be having a Jingle Ball in honor of the Chevalier Noel's return. And from there on Christmas Eve, we'll head to the Eiffel Tower for the Christmas Miracle event. Some international superstars from America, Japan, and SquareCity will be attending. Interested?"

"I'm just gonna have to look at my schedule." Lightning dismissively said to Travanchet. She took a sip of her ice water on glass. "From there, I'll tell you what I—!"

"Yes! Yes! She said yes!" Vanille squealed with delight and so was Kairi. The excited girls dug their nails deep into Lightning's wrists, and Vanille jumped on Lightning with a firm tight hug. Kairi jumped to hug also, her cheeks pressed gently on Lightning. Lightning struggled, feeling the sheer happiness and joy. "Okay. Easy. I didn't make the decision."

"But you're free! You're free!" Vanille exclaimed.

"I will await your answer, my dear." Travanchet greeted one last time and took off.

Kairi stretched an arm under the table for her shopping bag. She felt nothing. She bent down. She _saw_ nothing!

Alerted she jerked up and asked her friends, "Guys?"

All heads turned to her.

"What happened to all those shopping bags from under the table? The _Montaigne_ shopping bags!"

"It's right…!" Terra froze up when he noticed the bag was gone also. Aqua and Vanille's eyes widened. "…here."

"Ohhh no." Aqua's voice quivered. All got off their table and started searching for the bags in a frenzied panic. "Noo! Noo! Noo! NOoO!"

Sora, Riku and Neku came out of the building at that moment. Kairi tossed the plates and glasses, Vanille shoveled the utensils out of the way, and Aqua pulled out the table cloth, flipping the table upside down. Their raucous search caught the the restaurant's attention again.

"The Louis Vuitton! The Chanel! The Ralph Lauren and the Dior!" Kairi screamed, "Where are they?!"

"They're goooone!" Vanille squealed, "We've been robbed!"

"What's going—? WHOA!"Sora got cut short when Kairi grabbed him by the colon and slammed him onto the table. The fire in her eyes made him tremble in fear and anxiety,

"What did you do to those shopping bags from _Montaigne_?" Kairi barked at Sora, "There were valuables in there! CHRISTMAS VALUABLES!"

"I…I…" Sora shuddered, "I don't know what you talking about!"

"Wait, all of your shopping items are gone?" Riku asked and the girls all nodded as Kairi replied, "YES!" letting go off Sora, she approached Riku, "All the items are gone! Someone took them! I'd figure that you guys used it to puke on the escargots but that's not the case no, right?"

The uneasy silence forced Kairi to scream, "RIGHT?!" her blue eyes scanned across the restaurant. Her usual light-blue eyes that glittered with her serene innocent smile were now cold, frantic and accusing. All the onlookers turned away from her and went back to their dinners.

_"Wrrrooooong!"_

A singsong voice called on her attention. All heads whizzed to the side of the street. There was Prishe, and Shantotto. Prishe was on a motorcycle and Shantotto, still meditating, was on the tiny passenger seat rolling besides the vehicle. But right behind Shantotto was what caught their attention: the _Montaigne_ shopping bags! The exact bags, the exact items in the bag!

"You my friend should _really_ learn to safeguard your purchases." Prishe said, "Especially at this time of year when crooks are roaming about." She turned to the tiny Tarutaru, "Right, Shantotto?"

"I am meditating." Shantotto muttered.

Kairi's eyes widened. Her once cold frantic and accusing eyes were now shooting murderous daggers at Prishe and Shantotto.

"You… little… bitch…"

Kairi summoned her Keyblade and tossed it to the air. The Keyblade morphed into a Keyblade Ride similar to Aqua and landed right besides Prishe and Shantotto. The startled Prishe took off on her bike. Kairi hopped over the leafy hedge of the restaurant and onto her Keyblade Ride and took off in pursuit. Her friends jumped over the hedge also and into the street watching the high speed chase.

"We gotta go after them!" Sora proposed before summoning his Keyblade Ride, which looked similar to Ven's Keyblade Ride, and jumped on it.

"Wait a minute… Sora!" Riku ran to the streets, shouted at his friend, but too late. He already blasted off. He stopped, summoned his Keyblade Ride, similar to Terra's, and jumped on it.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Neku exclaimed as Riku leapt on his Ride. "Grab a cab!" Riku exclaimed and before long the duo was halfway down three blocks in pursuit. Terra, Aqua, Vanille, Neku and Lightning were left behind.

"They're nuts!" Neku said.

"We'll go after them." Terra proposed.

Meanwhile, Prishe and Kairi cut through intersections, twisted down corners, then crossed through alleys. Kairi was hot on Prishe's trail.

"I thought Christmas was supposed to be a time of sharing!" screamed Prishe, "Not a time…!" she tossed out a small gift box at the chasing Kairi, "…to pursue…" she tossed another box at her again, "…people!" Prishe tossed many more boxes at Kairi.

Kairi caught the flying boxes with one hand, and soon found herself riding on her Keyblade Ride with the other hand. "HEY!" she screamed, "NO tossing the gifts on the streets! Some of these are _really _expensive!"

Prishe chucked out a heavy box at Kairi next. Kairi's eyes widened as the box came at her, ready to knock her off her Ride. A blinding flash suddenly zipped past her and the box was gone. Kairi looked back. It was Sora, holding on the large box with one hand while riding with the other hand. Riku followed.

"Nobody messes with my girl's presents and get away with it!" Sora exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?!" Prishe exclaimed before revving up her bike, put on her gas pedal and off the bike grazed through the luminous Champs Elysees streets. Shantotto's eyes snapped wide open, out of her meditation.

"PRISHE WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP!"

"NOT UNTIL I OUTSMART THESE TWO PESTS!" Prishe barked, "They're after my gifts!"

"THEY'RE _MY _GIFTS!"

The chasers zoomed past onlookers, leaving behind powerful gusts of wind that almost carried everyone off their feet, even the police who were nearby almost got their motorbikes blown off by the wind. They muttered something in French before jumping on their motorbikes and went in pursuit, blowing on their whistle. Squad cars soon followed.

Riku whizzed his head back, watching the police at their tail. "We're being chased, Sora!"

"What?" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm not slowing down until I get my shopping bag and my gifts!" Kairi exclaimed.

"THEY'RE _MY _GIFTS!" Prishe barked before chucking more gifts at Kairi, Sora and Riku, small and heavy. The trio quickly acrobatically snagged the boxes, not missing one. One last box flew straight to Sora, knocking him almost off balance. "WHOOOOOAAAAAAH!" he quickly regained his balance and the gifts.

"LOOK OUT!"

Sora, Riku and Kairi headed straight for the market side of the street. They screamed. Kairi barely swerved out of the way but Riku and Sora rammed through the carts. They crossed food carts, fruit and veggies carts, accessories carts, natural herbs carts, clothing carts, electronic carts, jewelry carts, even carts for live caged animals supposedly lined up to draw customers; was now chasing them away. People spread out screaming in panic. The police squads chased after the duo, completely ignoring Kairi.

Kairi briefly paused to see the damage before setting sight on Prishe and Shantotto who were already far ahead, heading for the _Arc de Triomphe_. She went on the chase.

Riku and Sora emerged out of the carts, still riding on their Rides. Riku was covered in clothing and watches, while Sora was being attacked by panicked live chickens and was stinking in spoiled veggies and fruits. He quickly pulled out the chickens off him, tossed them to the street, then yanked out another one of his crotch.

Riku glanced at Sora through stack of sunglasses and multiple wigs he sported and shouted, "SORA LOOK OUT!"

Sora whizzed in front of him to see a French merchant in the way. He didn't have time to stop, so he screamed and rammed on the merchant. The Ride flew off under his feet. The shrieking chicken he had pulled out of his crotch ended up in the merchant's throat, and the duo slammed on the concrete ground before the citizens. The two police motorbikes came to a full stop before Sora.

Riku swerved his motorbike to catch up to Sora, but a tunic attached around his neck got wedged to one of the bike's wheels and yanked Riku off the Ride. Riku's face met the concrete floor and the Ride flew into the air before the street audience.

The Ride reverted back to the Keyblade in midair, as the police squad car stopped before Riku. The policemen went for him but one of the officers tripped on another piece of clothing from Riku and fell beside him. His face up the sky, he watched the Keyblade heading for his head. He gasped. Everyone screamed.

The blade landed, only shaving the front of his hair, missing his forehead by an inch. Everyone breathed sighs of relief. The officer turned to Riku, his eyes glaring murderously at him. Riku grinned, "Oops."

Kairi and Prishe were still hot in pursuit, swerving past incoming traffic and scaring off pedestrians. They reached the Arc de Triomphe. Prishe stopped before the building.

"Did we lose 'em?" Prishe asked Shantotto. But the Tarutaru was too busy puking on a brown bag.

"I'll take that as a no." she replied in disgust. She grabbed what remained of the _Montaigne_ shopping bag, jumped off her bike, and started running through the Arc. Kairi suddenly landed before her from the top of the Arc and grabbed her by the colon. "HA!"

"Heeey!" Prishe struggled, "Watch it! This is silk!"

"I DON'T CARE EVEN IF IT'S CASHMERE!" she then tugged on the bag, "GIVE ME MY GIFTS BACK!" she screamed, pulling the bag toward her.

"THEY'RE MINE! THEY'RE MINE!" Prishe yanked the bag from Kairi. The two girls kept pulling on the bag as onlookers turned their attention to the scene.

Another police squad car stopped before the Arc and an officer got out of his vehicle. Terra, Aqua, Neku, and Lightning got out of the car as well and joined the fighting girls.

"What's going on here?" the officer asked.

"Officer!" Kairi let go off the bag to approach the officer. "That girl stole my _Montaigne _shopping bag! It has a lot of valuable items in there! My friends and I went Christmas shopping this afternoon and all of the Munnies I've spent will be for nothing because of HER!" she pointed accusingly at Prishe. The pouting Prishe turned away from Kairi, holding on tightly to her now-lightweight bag.

"The _Montaigne_ shopping bag?"

"Yeah!"

"From the _Montaigne_ Department Store at the _Champs-Elysees_?"

"YEAH-UH!"

"Similar to _this Montaigne_ shopping bag?" the officer beckoned Neku, who pulled out the same shopping bag before Kairi. All the gifts were in there, untouched, still wrapped and intact. Kairi blinked at the sight of the bag. She slowly took it from the officer. "Uhh…"

"Your friends apparently found it." The officer said, "At _Fouquet's_ . The restaurant you were in."

"Remember when we had to switch tables because the table we were in was reserved for VIP-only?" Terra said to Kairi, "Yeah… we left the bag there."

"Untouched." Lightning finished.

"_Un_stolen." Neku finished.

"Surpriiiise!" Vanille cheerfully said.

There was an uneasy silence in the group.

"Ohh. Hee-hee." Kairi giggled nervously, turning to a red-faced Prishe, "Oops. S-sorry."

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Prishe hurled her bag away and jumped on Kairi, beating her senseless. The officer blew his whistle before jumping in; trying to pull the girls off each other. More officers showed up and huddled on the fighting girls.

xXx

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Hooo!"

_Vive le vent, vive le vent, **Hail the wind, Hail the wind.**  
vive le vent d'hiver **Hail the Winter's Wind.**  
qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant **Who goes blowing, blowing.**  
dans les grands sapins verts. __Heeey ! **through the big Christmas trees. HEEY!**_

Mr. Villiers' jolly musical tune overwhelmed the hamlet. And so was the succulent smell of those freshly-baked warm toffee cookies. The jolly old man was with his great-grandson and Serah baking in peace and hormony, and singing the French version of _Jingle Bells_. But the little nosy and vindictive Tidus, Bartz, and Zidane had their eyes on him like cats ready to rip their prey in shreds.

"Is he singing _Jingle Bells_ in French?" Tidus asked, recognizing its beat and lyric.

"It's called _Vive le Vent d'Hiver._" Bartz said, "Roughly translated as _Hail the Winter's Wind_."

"I don't know why we call our song _Jingle Bells_ but the French version sounds cooler." Zidane said.

_Boules de neige et jour de l'an **Snowballs and New Year's Day.**  
et bonne année grand-mère ! __HEY ! **And happy New Year Grandma! HEY!**_

Snow and Serah sang together before Mr. Villiers chuckled, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Hooo!"

"I'm telling you guys." Tidus argued, "That man is Santa Claus! He can be no doubt!"

"He is not Santa Claus." Zidane argued, "And I know that for a fact because of what happened to Ven last year."

"What? He had too much rum to drink?" Bartz asked.

"No, he tried to make a deal with a couple of Mysidian kids on the existence of Santa." Zidane said, "Long story short: he lost the bet."

"Can we just go confront him?" Tidus exclaimed, "The laugh, the obvious appearance… the baking cookies…! _Cookies!_"

"We can do that…" Zidane said, "And make a fool of ourselves. _Orrr…_ we can explore this estate further for more clues."

Tidus and Bartz thought for a moment. "Yeah, let's go with that."

Tidus, Bartz, and Zidane met with Vaan outside the hamlet but a little farther.

"So what's the plan?" the relaxed Vaan asked with his hands clasped behind his head. "We find something that'll incriminate this old man that he's Santa Claus and no one else?"

"Simple as that." Tidus replied.

"Yeah, not that simple." Vaan argued, "For starters, this estate is big. So it's gonna take a lot of planning to steal from a jolly old fellow like Mr. Villiers."

"Hey, I thought we'd agree, we're not stealing anything." Bartz reminded.

Vaan laughed, "Kiddin'!" he said, "I was just testing you guys! Stealing from someone who could possibly be Santa Claus would so put me on the Naughty List for life! C'mon now."

The relieved boys composed themselves. "All right, so we need to split: you two…" he pointed at Zidane and Vaan, "…try accessing some locked places around the Estate. Bartz and I will scour the hamlet, the dairy, and the farm. Shouldn't take long. Remember what we're looking for: any evidence pointing to the identity of Mr. Villiers being Santa Claus. That means we're looking for reindeers, funny-shaped candy canes, whatever plausible…okay? Go!"

The boys split up, heading toward their respective spots. Tidus and Bartz first reached the farm, hoping to see at least a reindeer—or an animal disguised as a reindeer. Nothing, they only saw chickens, cows, and chocobos. The animals were docile, but there was one Chocobo in particular that was violent, kicking and screaming whenever the duo tried approaching him.

Zidane and Vaan found a tiny home which was supposed to be the royal private bedchamber. It was locked so they used their handy-dandy thief lockpick to break into the place and briefly thrashed it for any evidence. Nothing. Most evidences there were ceramic statues.

"Found anything?"

Zidane and Vaan jumped at Tidus's voice. Tidus and Bartz were behind them.

"Oh jeez. You scared me." Vaan exclaimed, "I thought you were Penelo."

"Penelo?" Bartz raised an eyebrow, "Oh, because Tidus talks all weird girly like?"

Zidane and Vaan chortled. Tidus didn't find that amusing, "Not funny!" he exclaimed.

"Oh come on now! That's hilarious!" Vaan chuckled.

"At least I'm not the one who gets paired up with other guys in fanboys' sickening imaginations."

"OOOHHHHHH!" Bartz and Zidane exploded with laughter at Tidus' remark. "POOOWNED!"

"Oh-Hooo!" Vaan summoned a saber and menacingly approached Tidus, "You know what…?"

"WHOA-WHOA-WHOA-WHOA!" Bartz and Zidane jumped before Vaan and Tidus before it got ugly.

"Wait, wait, wait guys! Stop!" Zidane exclaimed, his attention toward the very far corner of the room. There was a weird antique-looking clock before them. But the big circle of the clock had four smaller clocks around it, swirling around it and in place. All heads turned to that weird clock.

"I can't believe we've actually missed this." Zidane approached it, "What is it I wonder?"

The guys approached the device as well.

"Must be Santa Claus' magic clock." Tidus said, "Y'know how Santa leaves presents in every home of every land of every state of every nation of every continent of every single world and beyond that exist in just one night?"

"He has Magic!" Zidane replied.

"But magic is limited." Bartz argued.

"TIME Magic." Zidane argued back.

"Wait… too much Time Magic can disturb rifts of time and space." Vaan asserted.

"Arcane?" Bartz and Zidane questioned.

"Only manipulate the negative status." Vaan added before his eyes went wide, "no… wait! HE'S A GOD!"

"But gods are invisible." Zidane said.

"Not Cosmos and Chaos." Bartz added.

"Because we're chosen ones." Vaan said.

"Guys, guys, GUYS!"

Bartz, Zidane, and Vaan all turned to Tidus.

"HELLOOOOOOO!" Tidus pointed at the clock again. "Your answer's right here!"

The clock's hands on the big clock started twirling wildly, and all the smaller clocks started wheeling at a ridiculous fast pace. Bartz, Zidane and Vaan jumped back. "The clock!" Zidane exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Tidus said, not paying attention to the crazed machine, "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"NO, TIDUS! THE CLOCK!" the guys exclaimed. Tidus turned around and stepped back, startled, "What the…?"

The guys watched the clock spreading out a foggy swirl of darkness. The fog manifested before them, forming a dark figure. The figure slowly stepped out of these shadows and they were shocked by who they saw; but sporting a completely different outfit. An outfit fit for a king,

"Noel?!" They exclaimed.

Noel— or the man who looked like Noel—appeared serious with olive-colored eyes rather than azul, and were stern and slanted giving a sense of importance and respect. He sported a velvet trenchcoat of goldenrod silk and velvet fabric silver pair of trousers and onyx knee-high boots. The hair was snow-white with a caramel highlights on the front bang. Other than that, the resemblance was uncanny.

He turned to the guys, opened his mouth and spoke,

_« Qui êtes-vous ? » _**"Who are you?"**

**xXx Next Chapter xXx**


	8. SquareEnix Noël à Paris 3

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
****Noël à Paris**  
part 3 of 4

* * *

All eyes were on Noel, fancied in a velvet trenchcoat of goldenrod silk and velvet fabric silver pair of trousers and onyx knee-high boots.

_« Qui êtes-vous ? » _**"Who are you?" **he asked in French.

"Noel! It's me, Tidus!" Tidus said to him, "And there's Bartz! And Zidane and Vaan!"

"What did you do to your hair?" Bartz reached his finger toward Noel's snow-white hair with caramel highlights on the front bang. Frantic Noel slapped Bartz's hand away and quickly chided.

"Hey man, why the freak-out?" Vaan asked, "We're your friends!"

Noel didn't respond, but started quickly for a window then peered outside.

_« Le Chateau. » _**"The Castle." **He turned back to the guys, _« Quel jour est t'il? » _**"What is today's date?"**

All boys looked puzzingly at each other. "Uhh…" Tidus pulled out his tiny French-English book and flipped through the pages, "_Jour_." He said, "Jour. Jour. Jour. Sounds very similar."

"To bonjour." Bartz commented.

"Yeah, that."

"Bonjour means good morning." Zidane added. The lost and confused Noel watched the boys huddling around the tiny book.

"I know that."

"So maybe he's greeting us." Bartz wondered.

"Greeting us?" Vaan argued, "Look at him! He looks panicky." Vaan then turned back to Noel, "Noel, buddy!" he slammed his palms on Noel's shoulders and shook him, "Quit the Shakespeare drama and speak English!"

Noel quickly pulled away from Vaan, his bluish eyes still frantic and lost. "…English." He repeated.

Vaan nodded frustratingly.

Sudden realization glittered Noel's eyes. He placed a hand on his chest, "…I…" he paused, "…speak English."

"No duh!" Vaan exclaimed.

"We all speak the same language." Bartz said.

"Except…" Zidane's eyes glittered with realization also. He turned to his buddies, "Except…"

The boys exchanged looks before they glanced back at Noel suspiciously. "…this guy may not be Noel."

Noel—or the mysterious Noel clone—turned back to the window to observe the Chateau de Versailles again. Only this time he frowned upon it.

xXx

The next day, back at the Chateau de Versailles,

Noel—the real Noel Kreiss—had his eyes peering across a grand feast full of meats, veggies, cheeses, and drinks like a hunter before seizing one hand on a piece of roasted guineafowl and grinded through its meat. He then grabbed a handful of oyster shells and sucked on their meats. He then attacked a kishe dish of goat meats with cheese sauce, snapped off couple of chestnut-stuffed turkey legs and dunked them on bread sauce before gulping them whole. He tossed the bones away. He then grubbed on some salmons, truffles, hams, foie gras, crepes and ratatouilles.

"Are you enjoying your dish, _Monsieur le Chevalier Noel_, Kupo?"

Noel froze in place, a piece of turkey inches from his hanging mouth, like someone pushed the Pause button on him. He turned to face Mog Suzaku. "Hey, Mog! Yeah, I'm enjoying my dish _quite _a lot." He then pointed at some more snails, "These escargots… are the best!"

"Oh… _Merci_, Kupo." Mog said, "But we didn't cook it. They were delivered straight from _Fouquet's_."

"Awesome." Noel gulped on some more escargots.

"If you're enjoying your dish, Kupo, then you're gonna enjoy the Thirteen Desserts, Kupo!" Mog settled down an Apple Pie before Noel, then turned to the dining chamber's entry and beckoned. Twelve more Moogles, dressed in fancy high-class outfits flew in, carrying twelve kinds of desserts: like winter melon, fougasses, some fruits and nuts like raisins and almonds, and some sweets like Pain d'epice and Yule log.

"Thirteen… desserts?" Noel's eyes glittered.

"We the Cranberry Knights take Christmas _very_ seriously, Kupo." Mog explained, "The Thirteen Desserts is a Christmas tradition from the French region of Provence, in which each dessert, including the Apple Pie represents the Lord Jesus and His 12 Apostles. We usually serve it on Christmas Eve but as Chevalier Noel, we really wanted to boost up your spirits for tonight and tomorrow night!"

Noel laughed, his eyes mesmerized by the desserts' appearance, "Ho-Ohhh! Believe me, it's already—!" Noel had his hand on some dried figs and walnuts from the Thirteen Desserts when he stopped short, "…wait. Tonight? What's going on tonight?"

"We're having a Jingle Ball in honor of your return, Kupo." One of the Cranberry Knights said, "Every monarch and guest from across Europe is invited."

"They're gonna be there to watch you perform your Christmas Miracle as a practice for tomorrow's big show!" Mog added.

"Wait, whoa-whoa-whoa." He dropped the nuts and fruits and shuffled off from his seat, "Back up. Perform the Christmas Miracle tonight?" he shook his head, "I can't!"

The Cranberry Knights surrounded him, with Mog in front of him. "Wait. What do you mean you can't? You're _Chevalier Noel! _You've performed Christmas miracles all year long for all Europe! You can't stop now!"

"But see that's the thing." Noel said, "I'm not Chevalier Noel. I'm just Noel. Noel Kreiss. The guy you're looking for could be out there somewhere wondering why the heck he's not in the palace enjoying these delicious dishes. By the way, the Apple Pie. I'll have it to go please."

He passed by Mog and walked toward the dining chamber's exit. The Cranberry Knights were left bewildered.

Noel was crossing the Hall of Mirrors when he saw someone standing there, as if waiting for somebody.

"Hey, you!" he called; "I need to talk to…!" he stopped short at the sight of the person who turned to face him, "Whoa… Lightning?"

Lightning was in her _Final Fantasy XIII-2_ outfit.

Noel smiled broadly, "It's you! You came to rescue me!" he paused, staring at Lightning's outfit, "But uhh… you… look…"

"Save it, Noel." She interrupted, "You've seen me in this outfit before, remember?"

Noel paused, "…riiiight." He muttered, reminiscent, "But what's _with_ that outfit?"

"Just trying a new look." She said.

Noel crossed his arms and had a smug smile on his face, "Really?"

Lightning hesitated, "…oh, who am I kidding? I'm trying to impress someone. There. You happy?"

Noel still looked puzzled, "…whyyyy?"

"Because I'm in love! There!" Lightning snapped, "You _really _need to stop pulling my strings."

"Really?" Noel blinked, "You… are in love?" he chuckled, "Really?"

"Spill my secret and I won't rescue you."

"Lips are sealed."

Travanchet entered the Hall of Mirrors, escorted by the Cranberry Knights. They both find Noel and Lightning together, "My lady!" he greeted her, "_Ma princess. Ma Cherie. _I see you've met Chevalier Noel."

Lightning simply nodded.

"Yeah, about that…?" Noel approached Travanchet, "I'm not Chevalier Noel. And that Christmas Miracle you guys want me to perform tonight… _and _tomorrow night at the top of the Eiffel Tower… can't happen."

Travanchet chuckled, "Sure… you're not Chevalier Noel. And I'm not Lady Gaga." He cackled creepily.

Lightning and Noel were silent.

Travanchet stopped laughing. "Too soon?"

Lightning and Noel shook their heads.

"Doesn't matter!" he snapped, "Tonight is the night of the Jingle Ball and _everyone's_ invited!" he turned to Lightning, "So ma Cherie Lightning. Please do share the invite to all of your fellow friends, families, and guests… including the jolly good old _Monseigneur_ Villiers, huh?"

"How about you give me a tour to this castle?" Lightning proposed, as she couldn't stop staring at her high-class surroundings, "The Jingle Ball is not up until tonight, right? And by all means." She smiled genuinely, "Call me _Claire_."

"Claire?" Noel blinked.

She stopped smiling, "It's my real name." she commented before turning back to Travanchet.

Travanchet grinned, "Sure." He then turned to Noel, "Oh! And uh… _Monseigneur le Chevalier_. Do not fret about messing up the Christmas Miracle. You have the Christmas Magic in there." He poked Noel's chest, indicating the 'magic's' location: his heart, "You should remember that."

"Gentlemen." Travanchet addressed the Cranberry Knights, "Would you be so kind as to escort our guests to the King's Bedchamber? He must be treated as a King. Oh! And prepare the Queen's bedchamber for the lady Claire."

The Cranberry Knights all nodded.

He turned back to Lightning, "Shall we?" he offered his arm to Lightning. Lightning wrapped her arm around his, once again without a smile. The two left.

Noel cocked his head on one side before facing Mog, "…Claire?"

Mog shrugged.

xXx

"KWAAAAARRRRK!"

The Kingdom Hearts cast—Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Naminé, Lea and Isa—all watched Snow and a dark-brown Chocobo shooting into the air, airborne; their panicked shrieks invaded Marie Antoinette's great Prairie near the Hamlet.

"NYOOH! NYOOH! NYOOH! NYOOHHH!"

"SHHIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAATTTT!"

Snow and the Chocobo crashed right out of the Chocobo pen.

"They're heading straight for the Dairy Barn!" Lea and Isa exclaimed as the duo went charging for the building.

"HEEL! HEEL! HEEEEEL!"

"NYYOOOOOOHHH!"

Snow and the Chocobo ran right into the dairy barn, forcing thousands of chickens, cows, and goats to disperse out of the way in sheer panic.

"That's gotta hurt…" Isa groaned.

Serah and Mr. Villiers arrived at the prairie to see the damage. "Noel!" Serah ran for her boyfriend.

"Chocolate!" Mr. Villiers exclaimed.

Snow and the Chocobo Chocolate came out of the prairie, dazed. The Chocobo had a wooden plank around its neck and Snow was covered in wood splinters. The Chocobo landed on the grassy ground unconscious. Snow was close to land on the ground as well but then quickly jumped as the splinters struck him, "YEEEAALP!"

Serah stepped before Noel, "Oh my gosh, honey, are you okay?" she grabbed a handful of splinters from his chest and yanked them out of him.

"YAOOW!"

"Snow! Hooo! Oh! Oh! Oh! Ohhh…" Mr. Villiers' jolly laugh sounded like crying now, "What did you do to Chocolate?"

"He tried to kill me!" he accusingly pointed before Serah yanked another dozen splinters off him, "YAAAOO!"

"Chocolate doesn't belong to me. He belongs to a dear friend of mine. Her daughter travels with him all the time but she entrusted him to me to take good care of. If anything happens to him, she's gonna freak!" Mr. Villiers turned back to the unconscious Chocobo, "Ohh… are you okay, Choco-Boko?"

"Groooaaaannns…" Chocolate whined.

Sora turned to Ven's attention. Ven now had the weight of a sumo wrestler.

"Sooo…" he grinned mischievously at him, sing-singing "…Ventus… how's your 12 Days of Creamsmas going?"

The gang stifled.

"25!" Ven muttered angrily.

"Potato Potahto." Sora smirked.

"Seriously, Ven. You should _really _consider cutting off on sweets and losing weight for 2012." Kairi laughed, "It's everybody's favorite resolution y'know?"

"I told you." Terra said to him.

"Hey, I only have two more days of ice cream torture!" Ven argued, "After Christmas, I'll be permanently lactose-intolerant."

"That's true." Lea said, "We tried feeding him cottage cheese this morning…."

"Like a fatso who can't get a job." Isa insulted.

"But," Lea interrupted, "he ended up picturing the dairy as a bunch of tiny roach babies swimming on expired cream pool."

Ven turned green, his cheeks puffed up, and he ran away. But he only reached twelve feet to a tree when he ended up puking, "UUWWWEEEEEEEH!"

The rest of the gang—except Lea and Isa—laughed out loud.

"Oh?" exclaimed Lea, "So you think this is funny huh?"

"We find it hilarious, yes." Aqua replied.

"That ain't funny." Isa muttered.

"Yeah, it ain't!" Lea agreed, his voice raised, "Because of his 25 days of ice cream obsession, we missed out on two weeks of Paris fun!" he glared at Naminé on cue, as if it was all her fault. Naminé grinned and shrugged, "Hey, I'm sorry. I can't control fate."

"But you can draw fate!" Isa added.

"Can you draw the kind of fate that'll stop his puking?" Kairi waved her hand over her nose, " 'Cuz seriously, this is embarrassing." The gang continued laughing.

"Guys, seriously. Let's stop." Terra who was wiping off his tears tried to calm down the hysteria.

"Hmph. Fate." Lea huffed before facing Kairi, "At least fate didn't stop you from making a public diva scene at the _Arc de Triomphe_." He then faced Riku, "Or getting arrested for assaulting a police officer!" he then faced Sora, "OR puking at a fancy restaurant!"

The offended gang stopped laughing. Terra and Aqua's eyes widened, sensing a fight coming. "Ooooh…"

Kairi stepped forward Lea, "Excuse me?"

"HEY!" Sora stepped in front of Kairi to face Lea, "Have you even tasted escargots? They're nasty!"

"And I didn't assault the police officer!" Riku argued, "It was an accident! My Keyblade almost struck him!"

"Not in your criminal record it was." Isa muttered.

"You sir haven't tasted true cuisine like Mogusto's Escargots." Lea argued at Sora, completely ignoring Riku, "And yes, they deliver."

"How about a special delivery of my Gucci _foot_ down your throat?" Kairi waved her new boot-equipped feet, "See if you can taste true cuisine!" she was about to jump at Lea, but Terra pulled her quickly.

Sora and Riku were about to jump on Lea and Isa as well, but Terra and Aqua jumped in, trying to separate them from fighting.

Tidus, Bartz, Vaan, Zidane and Chevalier Noel arrived at the prairie, witnessing the KH cast fighting, Ven still puking at a distance, Serah yanking splinters off Snow and Mr. Villiers tending to Chocolate. They approached. Tidus called out.

"Guys…! Guyyyyys!"

They ignored him.

"GGuyyyyys!" Tidus tried again, but still nothing. They were still busy in their noisy business.

Vaan pulled out his trusty handgun from under his trousers, pointed in the air and shot three rounds. Everyone startled, turned to their attention.

"GUYS!" Vaan screamed, "We got major news!"

Everyone gathered around the guys.

"Noel!" Snow sounded nervous, he grinned, "H-hi buddy! Did you miss me?"

Chevalier Noel blinked.

" 'Cause I sure did!" Snow went on, "See, we were about to y'know… rescue you, but we got distracted with the out of control Chocobo and the Toffee cookies and the beautiful winter prairie…"

"Save it, Snow." Terra said to him, "We all know you don't care for his safety."

"How did you escape those two grumpy French freaks?" Sora asked.

"Guys, chill! That's not Noel." Bartz said.

All eyes stared momentarily at Bartz before turning to Chevalier Noel. "Wait… what?" Riku uttered.

"While we were too busy trying to expose Mr. Villiers as the real Santa Claus." Tidus revealed, the shocked great-grandfather gasped, "We came across this weird clock in a building in this estate. And guess who came out of there." He pointed at Noel, "THIS GUY!"

Silence.

"Noel." Terra said, "Came out of a clock?"

Mr. Villiers gasped, "The Historia Crux…"

All heads turned to him.

"It has a way to make people who travel through it immortal…"

"HA!" Tidus exclaimed, "I knew it! You really ARE Santa Claus!"

Mr. Villiers laughed out loud, "Ohh, Tidus you're so naïve. Just because I use my handy dandy Historia Crux to travel through time, doesn't make me Santa Claus! But seriously, if you think I'm _the _Santa Claus, then maybe Snow here is Hannah Montana!"

The gang stifled. Mr. Villiers turned to Snow, "No offense."

"Gee." Snow growled under his breath, "None taken, Grandpappy."

"But what about that jolly laugh?" Tidus added.

"And that outfit?" Zidane exclaimed with Bartz nodding.

"And the beard?" Vaan added.

All turned to Vaan.

"What? Can't argue with the beard."

"It's Christmas." Mr. Villiers said, "Can an old man be into the spirit?" he chuckled before wiping off a tear, "Ohh! Ho! Ho!"

"Guys, can we refocus on poor Chevalier Noel here?" Bartz said, "He has something to say."

"_Oui_." Chevalier Noel approached, "I have… something… to say."

Mr. Villiers approached Chevalier Noel, this time he had a serious look on his face, "All right. All jokes aside." He then spoke to him in French.

_« Parle-moi, Chevalier Noël. Dis-moi tous ce qui t'es arrivé, et je l'interpréterai à ma famille ici.»_**Talk to me, Chevalier me all that happened to you and I'll interpret it here to my family.**

_« Merci Monseigneur Villiers. Alors. Voilà ce qui s'est passé. »_**Thank you Lord Villiers. Okay, here's what happened.**

xxx

The _Chateau de Versailles_ on the night of the Jingle Ball was alive and humming with activities. The chateau's front courtyard and the gardens were filled with people, all prepped for this anticipating day to meet the famed _Chevalier Noel _after a year of his disappearance. People from all over, not just those of the royal bloodline but citizen as well, came far and wide to enjoy authentic foods and drinks, either imported or local, and dance many dances including famous royal waltzes. Currently they were listening to a Dragon Quest IX orchestral piano piece of _Gather, My People_.

But for our fellow SquareCity residents, this serene festive moment was a different matter.

For Noel, he had to find a way out of this tough situation. A situation where he was being mistaken as this _Chevalier Noel _and believed to have the Christmas miracle that'll make all of Europe get the best Christmas ever. So before he can practice this so-called miracle, he has to make sure he is not _anywhere _near the palace!

For Lightning, it was her very first date in a long, long time. She never thought she found the love of her life, until now. Of course, same old Lightning, she would deny her feelings to anyone… even if this Elezen lord known as Travanchet has already captured her heart.

For everyone else—including the _real_ _Chevalier Noel—_they must find a way to save Noel and get the Chevalier's rightful place as heir to the Christmas miracle before people finds out that there's been a Christmas crook. How are they gonna do that would be a different story.

Lightning looked ravishing in her FFXIII-2 outfit. She stepped into the ballroom, and the filled guests that were there turned to her attention, mesmerized by her stunning beauty. The _Blue Danube Waltz_ replaced the Dragon Quest piece and filled the classy atmosphere.

She quietly walked past the ballroom crowd, her heels being the only sound effect besides the music. She closed in to Travanchet. He still had his blazing ebony mage cloak on but still looked rather enchanting.

Travanchet reached a hand up toward Lightning, a smile across his lip. Lightning briefly looked at the hand. She suddenly got reminiscent. Like she'd seen this in a dream. She finally joined his hand and before she knew it, the duo gracefully swayed across the marble floor of the ballroom's castle under the luminous chandelier. The crowd turned their attention away from the dancing duet and they too went on with the flow of the music. All of them were chest-to-chest.

Snow and Serah who were also in the ballroom as well looked marvelous in their formalwear, with Snow in a White Full Dress tux and Serah in a cream-colored silk strapless evening gown. Her hair no longer in ponytail flowed down her shoulders in a chic wavy style. Serah spotted Lightning and pointed her to Snow. The duo then proceeded to get to each other chest-to-chest and waltzed to the music, their eyes on Lightning and Travanchet.

"How do you enjoy your stay at the _Chateau_, _ma Cherie_ Claire?" Travanchet asked Lightning.

Lightning frowned. Wasn't she asked that question before, she thought. This was definitely a _real dream_ coming true. A hint of smile appeared on her lips.

"I love it." She replied, "Care to be my prince… in this _chateau_?" she asked.

Travanchet paused on the ballroom, and so did she. "I would if you'd allow me." He said.

There was silence between the duo. Lightning cocked her head, awaiting his answer to be completed, "…to…" she articulated.

Travanchet grinned, "Why, to make you my princess, of course."

He stepped closer to her. His hot breath filled her mind into a fog. She sharply gasped, no longer thinking straight. This _was _a dream coming true, she muttered; as her strawberry-colored lips closed in toward Travanchet's.

"Excuse me!"

A hand suddenly snatched Lightning by the arm and yanked her from Travanchet. "HEEY!" she screamed, Travanchet getting farther from her reach. Before she knew it, she was among another crowd full of people with Snow and Serah beside her.

"Augh…" she growled under her breath, "you two."

"This is serious Lightning!" Serah exclaimed.

"Really serious!" Snow added.

"So this is not the time to get all sarcastic!"

"Look, if you wanna know what I got you for Christmas, you have got to wait till Christmas Day to see what I've got you!" Lightning exclaimed.

"It's not that!" Serah exclaimed, "We need to talk!" she said, "It's about your boyfriend, Travanchet."

"He's not my boyfriend." Lightning justified.

"He won't be when you hear _all _of us out." Snow pointed Lightning the rest of the gang—Sora, Riku, Kairi,Terra, Ven, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Tidus, Bartz, Vaan, Zidane, Mr. Villiers, and finally Chevalier Noel.

So Lightning joined them and listened to their complaints. She wasn't really attentive to their criticism toward the Elezen, until she heard two things: _Chevalier Noel_ speaks, and the word kidnapped emerged during one of his translations.

"Kidnapped?" one of Lightning's eyebrows raised, "What do you mean kidnapped?"

"By kidnapped he means Travanchet sent out his men to capture him and trap him inside the Historia Crux." Tidus said.

"The Historia Crux is some sort of time and interdimensional rift machine we found in one of Mr. Villiers' buildings in his estate." Bartz said, "That's where Travanchet put him that caused _Chevalier Noel_'s disappearance."

"Travanchet has always been jealous of Chevalier's powers for as long as I could remember." Mr. Villiers said, "But he was also aware of one thing and one thing only. Chevalier's Christmas power didn't come from Chevalier himself. It came from above."

"Legend has it that if Chevalier Noel is unable to gain this Christmas power to perform the Christmas miracle each year in Europe, that privilege is relinquished from him and is then transferred to the closest member of Chevalier's future heirs." Zidane said.

"And with Chevalier not having a family after him, Travanchet his closest ally, happens to be next in line to receive the power." Vaan said.

"Which explain why he was so keen in getting rid of Chevalier." Lea added, "Got it memorized?"

Lightning paused, "Sooo… what does this has to do with Noel being mistaken as the Chevalier?" she glanced back at _Chevalier Noel_ when she asked that question.

"My guess is Travanchet wasn't really excited to see Noel—or as he thought it was, Chevalier Noel—coming back to ruin his plan." Snow replied.

"But he kept Noel at bay because the people of Europe demanded the return of their European's Santa Claus." Serah said.

"Additionally, he knew Noel was telling the truth all along. So his plan shifted."

"So instead of trying to get the Christmas Magic all by himself without the Chevalier's interference, he decided to do just that by using Noel to…"

"…eventually make a fool of himself on the night of the Christmas miracle so that people will come to despise the Chevalier Noel and the Christmas magic will instead fall into Travanchet's shoulders and he would use it to rule the world?" Lightning guessed.

"Bingo!" Snow replied.

Lightning observed Travanchet over her shoulder, the love she had in her eyes were now filled with disgust for the man.

"And here I thought I was actually falling for Mr. Right."

"Huh?" the gang exclaimed.

"Nevermind." She said, "Let's just find Noel before he takes the stage."

"Actually Lightning," Snow grinned, "we have a better idea."

xXx

Noel Kreiss, sporting the same outfit as _Chevalier Noel, _was behind the curtains watching the crowd expanding. And it wasn't the usual high-class kind of people he saw. He saw people of all different classes and even those who were on wheelchairs.

"Kupo!"

"WHAA!" he startled. Mog was behind him with his Cranberry Knights fellow, all smiles, "So you're ready for the big event?"

"I told you, I'm not ready for _any _event!" he hissed.

"Oh…" Mog paused, "…well that's too bad, Kupo. Because we just got a change of plans." Mog snapped its finger and on cue the curtains rose up. The crowd now had their attention on Noel. Noel's jaws dropped.

" You'd be performing your Christmas miracle right now Kupo!"

"WHAT?"

A surprised Travanchet stepped through the crowd, "What the—? What is the meaning of this? I didn't ask for Noel to perform his miracles now!" he turned to his servants, "Spirouelle! Bertram! _Qu'est-ce-qui ce passe?" **What's going on**_?

The two servants shrugged; they too had no idea what happened, while the SquareCity gang high-fived each other and deviously smiled at their latest scheme getting unfolded.

« Kupo ! Mesdames et Messieurs, voici votre Chevalier, le Chevalier Noel ! » "**Kupo! Please give us a warm welcome to your knight, the _Chevalier Noel!_**"

Noel just froze there, unable to move a muscle. After a solid thirty seconds of silence and slight coughing, he started snapping his fingers, once…twice…again …again…

_Boom-boom-Psht!_

_Boom-boom-Psht!_

_Boom-boom-Psht!_

_Boom-boom-Psht!_

Then the instrumental chorus of _Sleigh Ride _played in a slow beat. He proceeds to move his legs side by side to the beat. The crowd still wasn't impressed. He then started bopping his head. After a while there were murmurs and groan sounds. Travanchet smiled. His plan was working. What he didn't know was that the SquareCity gang was smiling as well. The infectious melody picked up.

_Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, Ring-ting-tingling too… (Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

_Come on, it's lovely weather For a sleigh ride together with you, (Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

_Outside the snow is falling And friends are calling, "Yoo hoo", (Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

_Come on, it's lovely weather For a sleigh ride together with you. (Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

_(Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

_(Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

_(Ringlin' Gillin' Ding-dong-ding!)_

The crowd looked bored. Noel slowed down his not-so-infectious dancing.

"Man, this is bad." Tidus commented, "We need to pull him out." He started walking away, but Sora stopped him, "…wait for it." His grin widened.

"Aw… who am I kidding?" Noel tossed his hands dismissively, and a powerful white ball suddenly shot from his fingers. "I suck at this any—!"

The white ball struck a wheelchair guy. The crowd dispersed in shock. Noel froze up.

The wheelchair guy stared at his legs. They were shaking. He grappled on his wheelchair's handles and slowly rose from his chair. The crowd gasped. He was on his feet!

"I'M HEALED!" he exclaimed.

Travanchet's jaws dropped.

The crowd turned back to Noel and they gasped again, this time with their jaws on the ground, pointing at something next to Noel. They then looked back at Noel, and then back at the person next to Noel. The startled Noel looked also. It was Chevalier Noel, standing right next to him. His jaws dropped.

"Hallo." The Chevalier greeted with his French accent.

"Holy candy canes…"

"WHAT?" Travanchet exclaimed.

The SquareCity residents cheered and hooted.

"Take me hand." Chevalier Noel tucked his hand toward Noel and Noel took it.

"We do magic." He said. Hesitant Noel smiled and nodded. Once again the infectious _Sleigh Ride _song picked up. The duo with their free hands stretched out toward the ceiling and more magic balls shot off from their fingers and more of those balls struck a bunch of people. And one by one the gloom on their faces got replaced by bright and cheerful smiles.

The crowd rang with excitement and howling cheers as the ballroom got showered with lights, stars and confettis. The Chevalier and Noel moved to the beat of the music, performing their magic like a fabulous _Cirque du Soleil_ feat. And the crowd couldn't not get any more happier.

The music came to a light-end and the crowd wildly clapped and hooted for the duo. Noel and his celebrity counterpart bowed.

"Hey, you did it, _Chevalier!" _Noel said to him. "I really appreciate you helping me!"

Chevalier shook his head, "_Non_." he said, "_We _did it."

The celebration got short-lived by Travanchet's sudden outburst. "Impostor!"

All heads turned to face him. He stormed through the crowd and in front of Noel and Chevalier he stood, a pointed finger on Noel, "J'accuse!" he hesitated, "No, wait. J'ACCUSE!"

The crowd flooded with murmurs. Travanchet turned to their attention, "You can't possibly be thinking that there can really be two Chevalier Noel, n'est-ce-pas? Ohh! Ohn- Ohn- Ohhhnnn! You are rrrrrrrrreally wrong my people! RRRRRRRREEEEALLY wrong."

He turned back to the two twins, "One of them is an impostor! A true embodiment of evil trying to steal Christmas!"

People in the crowd started talking, expressing worries.

"And how do you know that, _Monseigneur Travanchet_?" Vaan stepped in, confronting him, "It's not like you had something to do with _two _Noels, I'm guessing."

"Hmm…" Bartz rubbed his chin, "What a puzzling mystery."

"What are you talking about, kids?" Travanchet frowned, "I never had anything to do with two Noels." He then turned to the crowd, "Do I look like I have something to do with the two Noels?"

The crowd shook heads in reply.

"Travanchet, stop lying." Lightning said to him as she stepped before him, "Your mouth says one thing, but your body language says another."

"Oh, I'm a liar huh?" Travanchet argued, "If I'm really such a bad liar, then prove it."

"Ever heard of the Historia Crux?" Zidane asked him.

Travanchet's eyes stayed on Zidane for a moment before briefly scanning his surroundings. He looked back at Zidane, "Historia Crux…" his voice was low, "…never heard any of—!"

"It's special time machine found in my Grandpappy's estate." Snow said, "Previously Marie-Antoinette's. Her private royal bedchamber."

All eyes were briefly on Snow, followed by murmurs. Snow sighed, "Yeah that's right. I said Grandpappy."

"…you know Marie-Antoinette, right?" Noel added, "Briefly told me about her. She's that woman who got her head cut off back in the early—!"

"I get it!" Travanchet's voice rose, "can you just get to the point?"

"The point is simple." Travanchet heard the voice of Monseigneur Villiers who squeezed past the crowd to get a better view of Travanchet. "Last Christmas Eve we had dinner together and you asked that you check out the Historia Crux after dessert. But I couldn't escort you there because you wanted to examine it yourself. It was at that moment that you had captured _Chevalier Noel _and stuffed him inside its rift."

"Bloody accusations." Travanchet muttered.

"Sure." Riku replied, "But we weren't present on the day you had a consultation with psychic Matoya, right?"

Travanchet's eyes widened. The witch stepped forward, gazing creepily at him. "Matoya?" he repeated.

"What is the meaning of this, witch?" he shouted at her, "Didn't I pay you your blood money?"

"Oh sure…" Matoya giggled, "You did pay me cash. But what those fellows pay me was twice the amount you did."

"Matoya here was able to cooperate with us. Thanks to the power of the dollar." Sora said.

"And she told us a bunch of interesting stuffs." Tidus said, "Like how you schemed to inherit the Christmas Magic by having Chevalier Noel disappear from the face of the Earth, as spoken by legend."

"The person next in line to inherit the Christmas Magic will get that magic in the event the _Chevalier Noel _is unable to perform his Christmas miracle. That's when you made your move." Serah explained, "You capture the Chevalier and waited for this very specific moment."

"But when your servants found Noel, and mistook him for the Chevalier, you thought all hopes were lost…" Snow said, "…until you found out for yourself that Noel was NOT the Chevalier."

Lightning stepped in front of Travanchet, "So you put your next plan in motion: to humiliate Noel in front of thousands of people, make sure all of Europe loses their beliefs in the Chevalier, only to have you save the day at the very last minute. Ain't that right, Travanchet?"

Travanchet was silent again. Lightning shook her head, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Oh, I should?" he replied, "Tsk. Says the one who fell in love with a crook like me, _princesse_. But you know… I'm not ashamed of what I did and not ashamed of what I plan on doing next."

He flicked his arm to one side and a bright glow overwhelmed the startled audience.

xXx

-**Champ de Mars, toward the** **Eiffel Tower-**

Thousands of citizens and tourists were minding their own businesses, doing their last minute shopping or taking picture of the Eiffel Tower about a couple of blocks afar when the entire palace crowd plummeted in front of them. The startled citizens jumped back.

"What the…?" Tidus exclaimed.

"We're in front of the Eiffel Tower." Ven pointed out.

"What's going on?" Vanille wondered.

"What's going on…" Travanchet's voice boomed from the top of the Tower, catching all of Paris's attention, "…is that I'm gonna get my Christmas wish come true, and there's nothing you SquareCity meddlers can do about it! Isn't that right, _mes deux_ _Noël_?"

Travanchet faced Noel and the Chevalier, both tied up on a pole at the tower top.

"You're evil." Noel said, "No wonder you had a terrible Christmas during your childhood."

"MY Christmas was FINE, Thank you!" Travanchet exploded, startling the two Noel, "But do you see me complain about not having presents under the tree every year? Having candies and cookies in my stocking? Hot chocolate with marshmallows and caramel syrup on top served to me every snowy night? Caroling with friends and families across the plaza? Read "The Night before Christmas" for twelve nights straight?"

Noel and the Chevalier nervously looked at Travanchet before exchanging brief glances, "Err…"

NO!" Travanchet exploded, startling them again. "I don't complain at all because I don't care about all of those. They're nothing but childish traditions."

Noel scoffed, "Well, somebody's being a Grinch this year."

"…or any years." Chevalier added.

"Doesn't matter." Travanchet said, "You've heard of roasted chestnut under the fire, right? How about…" Travanchet snapped his fingers and a Fireball spell danced above his fingertips, "…roasted _humans _above the tower?"

The SquareCity cast and the entire crowd gasped at Travanchet's threat.

"Jack Frost won't be roasting at your noses anymore, as all of your Christmas magic will come upon me once you're gone!" Travanchet exclaimed, "Now THAT will be a very merry Christmas! MUAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HAAA!"

"He's gonna roast Noel!" Serah exclaimed, "We gotta do something!"

Noel turned to the KH cast, "Guys, use your Keyblade magic! Teleport us to the tower top!"

"We can't." Sora said, "We were banned from using our Keyblade. Y'know, after the Kairi incident."

"Hey, it's not my fault my Keyblade almost assaulted a police officer!" Kairi exclaimed.

Lightning sighed, "By the time we'll reach the tower, we'll be too late."

_"Ho! Ho! Ho! Hoooo!"_

A jolly good laugh echoed across the Parisian skies. All heads looked up to the skies at the sound of the laugh, followed by the jingle bells and the trampling of hooves on sky clouds.

_"Hoooo! Ho! Ho! Ho! Hoooo!"_

Travanchet looked around, "What is that?"

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Santa Claus is here!" Vanille jumped up and down in sheer excitement.

"Santa Claus?" Ven raised an eyebrow, "There's no such thing as Santa Claus."

A wrapped box suddenly landed on Ven's head. "OW!"

"Sorry!" Santa's voice echoed in the skies. Vanille grabbed the box and shook it before Ven, "NOW do you believe in Santa Claus?"

_"Hoooo! Ho! Ho! Ho! Hoooo!"_

"Who's taunting me with that voice?" Travanchet exclaimed.

A shimmer of light flashed before Travanchet, Noel and the Chevalier. It was Monseigneur Villiers, sporting a Santa Claus outfit and carrying a brown sack full of gifts, "Why, if it's not me laughing, it's not me laughing is it? HOOO! HO! HO! HO!"

"Monseigneur Villiers." Travanchet said, "What's with the costume?"

"Oh, I'm not Monseigneur Villiers, young Travanchet…" his voice trailed off.

Travanchet gave him a questionable look. So did Noel and the Chevalier.

"See?" Villiers patted his stomach, "Stomach full of jelly."

The trio continued to look at him.

"Maybe not too full of jelly…"

Still staring.

"Okay fine, I am." Mr. Villiers dropped the bag in defeat.

"If you're trying to get me to see the error of my ways, you've come too late."

"I'm not here to talk about the errors of your ways or the sins of your talents." Mr. Villiers said, "I'm here to talk to you."

Travanchet rolled his eyes, "It's the same thing."

"It's about your mother and father." Mr. Villiers interrupted.

Travanchet now paid attention to him.

"Look, whatever you think happened to your parents is not your fault." The jolly grandfather said, "It has never been. And look, you're not the only one who has had crummy Christmases in the past. Thousands of children and young folks have endured so much in their lives also."

"But that doesn't give you the right to steal the Christmas Magic from everybody, and specifically from the _Chevalier Noel_. Christmas is a special wonderful time we all share together. If not as a family, as a whole population."

"Chevalier Noel's job is to perform Christmas miracles to all those unfortunates, including you, Travanchet. All you have to do, is to keep doing what you were doing in the past. Believe in the Christmas Magic in him. And someday, you'll get your wish."

Travanchet was silent.

"Come on, man. Do what the Father Christmas is telling you to do." Noel begged Travanchet, "Set us free, let us in our merry ways and you'll have a wonderful Christmas."

Travanchet looked back at Mr. Villiers, then at the two Noels and then finally at the entire city of Paris watching. The Fire Magic was slowly dying between his fingers. It finally poofed out of existence.

"Fine."

Travanchet pointed at the two Noels and the rope sliced off them, setting them free.

"Enjoy your Christmas." Travanchet walked away. Mr. Villiers turned to the city of Paris and pumped his fists in the air, "EVERYBODY! CHRISTMAS IS SAVED!"

The crowd cheered on wildly. The _Sleigh Ride _song rang across the city and everyone danced on their toes, screaming Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

**xXx Next Chapter xXx**


	9. SquareEnix Noël à Paris 4

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

**-**_Square-Enix_**-  
****Noël à Paris**  
part 4 of 4

* * *

"Another Christmas morning… just like any other mornings."

Travanchet was on the Chateau's balcony, looking over the Gardens all by his lonesome. His plan to finally rule Christmas was foiled by a bunch of SquareCity residents and here he was again back at Square one: enjoying Christmas like he had 'enjoyed' them in any of his childhood. Without a family, presents, or joy whatsoever.

He scoffed, walked away from the quiet winter view and proceeded down to the Halls of Mirrors.

"KUPO!"

Mog came toward the Elezen in a rush. So did all of the Cranberry Knight. "What the—?" he jumped back, startled.

"Kupo! _Monseigneur Travanchet! _You got an invite!" he exclaimed, "Can you believe it? You got an invite?" he waved a sealed envelope to the Elezen.

"An invite?" he took the letter from Mog and ripped it open.

"It sealed with a star!" the Moogle said in sing-song, pointing at the star-shaped seal in the envelope Travanchet had failed to notice when he opened the envelope. Travanchet uncovered a parchment letter and read.

"Please see to it that _Monseigneur Travanchet du Chateau de Versailles _gets this proper invitation to meet with us at the top of the Eiffel Tower right now until Christmas night. Let the Crystal be your guide."

On cue, Mog pulled out a red crystal. Travanchet took the crystal from his hands, "…what's all this?"

"We can't wait that long!" Mog exclaimed and so did the rest of the Cranberry Knights, "We have to get to the Eiffel Tower before dusk!"

And so Travanchet ordered a limo and the whole gang hopped onto it, heading straight for the Eiffel Tower.

Travanchet arrived at the Eiffel Tower and went for the top of the building. He wasn't too anxious or excited about what was going on, but at the same time he was curious. One thing he believed was that it could be a trick.

He reached the top of the Eiffel Tower and this is what he beheld: the entire SquareCity residents' crowd gathered around one large rectangular-shaped table, a crowd-full of wrapped Christmas presents were on the table as well, surrounding a Christmas flower in the middle. By the corner of the Eiffel Tower were chefs, preparing some delicious Christmas dishes. He was astonished by what he saw.

"MERRRY CHRISTMAS, TRAVANCHET!" the gang exclaimed.

He cocked his head on one side, puzzled. "What the…?"

"We bought you something." Sora said as he and Ven both approached the Elezen, "Well, actually, we bought you a LOT of things!"

He slammed a heavy box to his arm, "This gift is from us! The Kingdom Hearts gang!"

"But don't open it till next Christmastime." Ven warned, "It won't be valid till then."

"It's the 25 Days of Creamsmas Ven decided to relinquish." Sora revealed.

"HEEEY!" Ven exclaimed.

Terra and Aqua then approached Travanchet; "This is from us!" he dropped to him a wrapped Keyblade. Travanchet blinked.

"…yeah, it's not properly wrapped but you get to enjoy it." Aqua winked.

"This is from me." Naminé gave Travanchet a frame portrait of him sitting on a chair, like in one of those royal ancient paintings. "It's a portrait of you. I hope you like it."

"And I've decided to give you some… not ALL… of my goodies from the _Montaigne_ department store." Kairi handed over her bag to Travanchet. He blinked.

"And I do mean some, because I'm giving away the rest to Prishe this afternoon." She then smiled, "She deserves a little gift for her troubles."

Tidus was up, "And take this." He said, handing over his French-English translation booklet to him, "You need this better than I do. I suck at French."

Finally Noel showed up, with a large wrapped box, "And this is a gift from me, Lightning, Snow, Serah, and… well pretty much everyone who failed to give you a gift."

"HEEEYY!" the crowded table exclaimed.

Noel laughed, "Just kiddin'." He handed him the box. Travanchet opened the box and unveiled inside a stocking full of candies and cookies. A box of Belgium chocolate with marshmallows bags, caramel syrup bottle, Christmas music CDs and "The Night before Christmas" book! Travanchet was stunned.

"Merry Christmas Travanchet. Oh, and thanks for the stay at the Chateau. It was… well… quite enjoyable."

Travanchet stared at all the gifts in his hands then back at the gang, "Okay why?"

"Why?" Snow said, " 'Cuz you're _way _overdue for a proper Christmas Day celebration, that's why!"

"All of the tales about you not having a Merry Christmas is too heart-wrenching to think about." Serah said.

"Really heart-wrenching." Vanille added.

"So we thought we could give you at least _one _good Christmas!" Noel added.

"But I don't deserve all of those pity gifts, no thank you." Travanchet settled the gifts back on the table.

Lightning stood up and approached him, "Hey… Travanchet." She closed in on him, "I didn't like what you were planning to do two nights ago. And frankly, I don't like this pouting attitude of yours you are making. You may be a villain, seeking to dominate the world, but you should know that even villains need to enjoy and spend the holidays with friends and families. Even if those friends and families aren't what you pictured."

"Yeah man. C'mon cheer up!" Lea exclaimed, "Get rid of that load on your shoulders, relax and enjoy Christmas with your SquareCity family. Consider it your first Christmas present in a long time!"

"What do you say?" Serah said.

Travanchet took one more look at the SquareCity cast, the gifts, and the foods being prepared. He turned back to Lightning and smirked, "I had a feeling you actually loved me."

Lightning grimaced, "Don't push it."

Travanchet laughed, "…okay. I'll join your little Christmas band."

Cheers and excited shouts emerged in the crowded table. Travanchet went to take his seat as everyone started opening their gifts.

"Ho! Ho! Hooo!" Mr. Villiers' laugh caught the gang's attention. He carried on a platter a delicious chestnut-stuffed turkey, "Guess what it's time for?"

"FOODS!" Everyone exclaimed as they all watched the chefs coming in with all sort of Christmas dishes: oysters, foie-gras, crepes, honey ham, buche de Noel, baked lasagna, ginger breads, fresh hot baguettes with raisins, pies of all kind of fruits, pretty much all foods they could cook.

"Hey, don't forget the Thirteen Desserts!" Travanchet added.

"Hoo! Ho! Ho! You've read my mind!" Mr. Villiers cheered and so did everyone else. All the dishes were settled and everyone dug in.

"I've gotta say, Grandpappy." Snow said to his great-grandfather, "This has got to be the best Christmas we've ever had."

"Even with all those excitement?"

Snow laughed, "Even with all those excitement."

**xXx Final Notes from Montblanc xXx**


	10. Final Notes

**Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belong to Square-Enix. **

* * *

******Final Notes from Montblanc**

* * *

_Hope you've all enjoyed these tales of celebration, giving, cheering, and mysteries. But just remember, Kupo; that the magic of Christmas doesn't come from gifts and miracles. But they do always come from those who share the joy and happiness they have with families and friends… _

_…even enemies too!_

_…that can only be a recipe for the best holiday ever. So give your gifts many, and keep your hearts full of light and a merry Christmas to all, Kupo!_

**_…and to all a Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts night!_**


End file.
